The Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2) beat the Houston Texans (1-2) today at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.  The Jaguars were down at the half, but after giving up 21 first half points they held the Texans to only three points in the second half.  Running back Maurice Jones-Drew was exactly the spark the Jaguars needed on offense, as he carried them to victory with 119 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries (5.2 avg).  Jones had a 61-yard touchdown run with under four minutes to play in the first half.

Quarterback David Garrard did a good job managing the game today, but didn’t do anything very impressive through the air.  He went for 214 yards on 18/30 attempts with no touchdowns and no interceptions, but he did have a one-yard touchdown run.  He ended up with 29 yards on 5 carries (5.8 avg), including a 30 yard run in the first quarter, so Garrard found ways to be effective on the ground.

The Texans did have their fair share of opportunities to win this game.  The biggest opportunity for the Texans came late in the 4th quarter after the Jaguars’ Mike Sims-Walker fumbled and the Texans’ Zac Diles recovered it on the Jaguars’ 49-yard line.  Texans’ quarterback Matt Schaub drove the Texans all the way to the one-yard line and it looked like he tied the game when he threw a touchdown pass to Joel Dreessen.  The play was called back though, as Kevin Walter was called for offensive pass interference.  Two plays later the Texan’s running back Chris Brown fumbled the ball on the goal line and Daryl Smith recovered the ball in the end-zone for a touch-back.  The call was challenged by the Texans but it was upheld and Jones-Drew and the Jaguars were able to run the clock out and hold on for the victory.