Last Sunday in London, the Eagles opted to put a kickoff in play with eight seconds left in the fourth quarter of a game against the Jaguars. This Sunday in London, the Texans opted to put a kickoff into the end zone with eight seconds left in the second quarter of a game against the Jaguars.
Both decisions were incorrect, because of the number of timeouts the Jaguars had in hand.
Last week, the Jaguars had no timeouts. It would have been difficult to complete a pass on the sidelines in field-goal range, since the Eagles could have guarded the boundaries and ignored the middle of the field.
This week, the Jaguars had two timeouts. Giving them the ball at the 35 nearly resulted in gaining enough yards to get in range for another long kick from Cam Little.
The throw from Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence to receiver Parker Washington at the Houston 46 was incomplete; Washington couldn’t control it before it hit the ground. If he’d made the catch, Little would have had a shot at a 63-yard game-tying field goal.
Yes, it would have been a very long kick. But Little has the leg to make it. Three weeks ago, Little missed a 70-yard try just before halftime not because it was short but because it was just wide to the right.
Obviously, there’s a chance that putting the kickoff in play would have resulted in a long return from the Jaguars. But this gets back to Mike Tomlin’s point that teams need to have the right special-teams players who can be trusted to make a tackle.
Regardless, giving the Jaguars the ball at the 35 with eight seconds and two timeouts created a very real risk of something far easier to accomplish than a long kick return. If the 19-yard throw had been completed, the game could be 17-17 entering the third quarter.