Texans report card: Failure on two stages leads to Houston's road loss vs. Jagaurs

Neither offense was impressive, but one scored late and the other didn't.

The result? The Houston Texans are sitting at 0-3 for the first time since 2018.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence connected with Brian Thomas Jr. for a 46-yard gain, setting up a 10-yard touchdown run by Travis Etienne to beat the Texans in a 17-10 bout.

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud drove Houston into striking distance with a pair of conversions in the closing seconds, but defensive end Josh Hines-Allen tipped his pass from behind, leading to defensive back Antonio Johnson being in the right place to intercept the football and seal the victory.

Here's the report cards from everyone on the Texans' Sunday afternoon in Duval County.

C.J. Stroud - D+

Stroud, who tossed a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Nico Collins, has not looked comfortable in Nick Caley's offense. He completed 25 pass attempts for 204 yards. His 50-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins was huge and a step in the right direction, but his two fourth-quarter interceptions also cost the team a chance to put the game away.

No, not everything with the offense is on Stroud. He's under pressure more than 40 percent of snaps and receivers can't get open downfield outside of Dalton Schultz. The play-calling has also been anemic at best and uninspiring at times.

However, Stroud must find a way to help elevate this offense. If he's a top-10 quarterback, as some proclaim, it should be easy. So far, it's been anything but.

Running back - C

Was it good? Not really, but when you have a limited running back room and both Woody Marks and Nick Chubb are averaging 4.0 yards per carry, you'll take it as a starting point. The offensive line could create holes for running lanes, thus limiting the success of the ground-and-pound attack.

The Texans aren’t going to get the production from last season. Even if Joe Mixon were fully healthy, they'd be limited in the ground game. Nick Caley has some explaining to do when it comes to the rushing attack.

Wide receivers - D

Sorry, but when you fumble the ball inside the red zone on a scoring drive to take the lead, nothing else matters. Nico Collins did finish with a season-high 104 receiving yards and blazed past Tyson Campbell for a 49-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, but his inability to secure the ball after a first down led to perhaps the biggest shift in the game. Devin Lloyd was at the right place, scooped up the ball and helped set up the game-winning touchdown drive.

Christian Kirk made his season debut after dealing with a hamstring injury, but he had just three catches for 25 yards. Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel also finished with a catch apiece.

Not much to write home about outside of No. 12....again.

Tight ends: C-

The only reason Dalton Schultz gets a higher grade is because, for the third straight game, he's finished second in receptions. This week, it was five catches for 39 yards with two first downs. It needs to be better, but at least someone is winning enough battles to set up secondary drives.

Offensive line: D-

Why such a low grade when the offensive line protected Stroud enough to make a few highlight plays and only gave up two sacks? Why complain so much when the running lanes were actually there at times?

Simple: Penalties. They were bad. They were consistent. Everyone besides Ed Ingram was called at least once, including three by rookie Aireontae Ersery and two by offensive tackle Tytus Howard.

Houston had seven total penalties. Six were on the offensive line for a loss of 40 yards. You can't win games like that, nor should you.

Defense: C+

The defensive line pressured Lawrence on 33 percent of dropbacks and Will Anderson Jr. picked up his third sack of the young season. Both Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To'oTo'o finish with six plus tackles, but they combined for five misses, including three on third down that led to conversions.

The secondary was playing short-handed in the second half after Derek Stingley Jr. left with a rib injury and outside of the 46-yard pickup from Brian Thomas Jr. played efficiently. C.J. Garnder-Johnson had three big hits and Jalen Pitre's interception set up the game-tying touchdown pass.

But the Texans still gave up the big score with two minutes remaining. Maybe it was planned to give the offense more time, but points being scored are points being scored.

Special teams: D -

Jaylin Noel was held in check as a returner, Tremon Smith didn't make a play out of the backfield on kickoffs and Ka'imi Fairbairn missed a 53-yard field goal in the first half. There's nothing to write home about here.

Coaching: F

Not everything falls on DeMeco Ryans, but it's his team. He's going to get blamed and honestly, it's warranted after that press conference.

The hirings of Caley and Popovich continue to sour by the snap and the locker room feels disjointed. Also, Ryans has preached back-to-back weeks about fixing the "controllable elements," yet still the team has seven penalties and multiple false starts.

That falls on him and only him.

This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Texans report card: How did Houston look in loss vs. Jaguars?