Jaguars most to blame for brutal last-minute loss to Texans in London

The Jacksonville Jaguars could not get the job done in London on Sunday. Jacksonville dropped a close game with Houston, falling 34-31 against their division rival. The game featured plenty of fireworks, including a breakout performance by superstar Travis Hunter. Unfortunately, his splash game was not enough to get the Jaguars the victory.

Credit where it is due to the Texans. Houston absolutely needed to win this game and played a complete 60 minutes to get it done. The Jaguars deserve some credit too for putting up a good fight. But ultimately, they disappointed their fans by losing a game they were supposed to win.

So who deserves the most blame for Jacksonville's latest defeat?

Here are the Jaguars players most to blame for Sunday's crushing last-second loss to the Texans in London.

It is time to give up on the Brian Thomas Jr. experiment in Jacksonville

The downfall of Brian Thomas Jr. in Jacksonville needs to be studied. It is not perfectly clear that he is not going to mesh in Liam Coen 's offense.

Thomas only played 15 snaps in the first half and had two terrible drops during that stretch. That led Jacksonville to bench Thomas for the rest of the game. It is hard to blame the Jaguars given how poorly Thomas has played following his rookie season.

The young wide receiver exploded in 2024 for 87 receptions for 1,282 receiving yards with 10 touchdowns. However, he stopped being a priority once Coen joined the team and his production has plummeted ever since.

Thomas has nine receptions for 105 receiving yards and a touchdown this season. He is getting outplayed by rookie Josh Cameron and superstar Travis Hunter. Simply put, he is not a part of the long-term plan in Jacksonville any longer.

Look for BTJ to hit the trade block ahead of the NFL's trade deadline on November 10th.

The entire Jaguars defense struggled against the Texans

Last season, the Jaguars were able to lean on their defense to help win close games. They do not seem to have that same ability in 2026.

The pass rush unit in Jacksonville has been surprisingly absent over the past several weeks. Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen combined for three in Week 1. However, they've only managed just a half sack in the weeks since then. It should be no surprise that the Jaguars rank in the bottom half of the league with 11 sacks as a defense.

The Jags need Walker and Hines-Allen to do a better job getting after the quarterback.

Meanwhile, the coverage unit did not fare much better.

Jacksonville allowed C.J. Stroud to have a career day passing against them. Stroud finished with 312 passing yards and three touchdowns, one of his best games of the season.

Yes, Travis Hunter did snag an interception in the red zone that took points off the board for Houston. But he did not play a perfect game, especially as a cornerback. Hunter committed two of the team's six penalties, one of which lead directly to a Texans touchdown.

It is incredibly clear why Jacksonville has played Hunter so much on defense so far this season. He is clearly the best player in their secondary and significantly elevates the unit when playing.

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It will be interesting to see if the Jags target another cornerback ahead of the trade deadline. That may be the only way to improve their consistency on defense.

Penalties, lack of discipline keeps hurting Jaguars over the past few weeks

Jacksonville's head coach needs to get after his team about their sloppy play over the past few weeks.

The Jaguars have been one of the most undisciplined teams in the league recently. In fact, they committed a whopping 13 penalties each in both Week 4 and Week 5. They only had six penalties for 66 yards on Sunday, but it was still a big problem.

While it is good to see Jacksonville reduced their volume of penalties, they still have a massive impact on the outcome. For example, Brenton Strange's holding call took a touchdown by Bhayshul Tuten off the board. Then Trevor Lawrence threw an ugly interception while attempting to get back into the end zone.

Coen took responsibility for multiple delay of game penalties last week. It is shocking to see Jacksonville face so much adversity despite playing in London. The Jaguars have played in London more than any other NFL team, yet they still looked uncomfortable during their latest trip overseas.

The Jaguars are on their bye week in Week 7. Now is the perfect time for Coen and his staff to figure out what they're doing wrong. These penalties cannot continue piling up throughout the rest of the season.