Jacksonville Jaguars vs Houston Texans Box Score on Jan 03, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Jan 3, 2016

HOUSTON – J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus combined for 6.5 sacks and the Houston Texans clinched their third AFC South title with a 30-6 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at NRG Stadium.

The Texans (9-7) closed the season with three consecutive division wins for their first AFC South title since 2012. Houston, 2-5 following a loss at Miami on Oct. 25, won six of eight games following their bye week and will serve as hosts in an AFC Wild Card game next weekend.

Opponents combined to score 22 points against the Texans in the past three games.

Watt and Mercilus paced a dominant defense, with Watt regaining his All-Pro form playing without a cast on his broken left hand for the first time in four games. Watt participated with thick protective padding and played like a whirling dervish with three sacks, two deflected passes, eight tackles and a fumble recovery. Mercilus had five tackles and 3.5 sacks, giving him a career-high 12 this season.

With the Jaguars (5-11) threatening early in the fourth quarter, Watt recorded a strip sack of Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles. Mercilus plucked the fumble out of the air to thwart a potential scoring drive with 9:16 to play. The Jaguars finished with just 215 total yards.

Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer returned from a two-game injury hiatus and passed for 249 yards and a score. Running back Jonathan Grimes added touchdowns of 12 and 3 yards, the latter on the ground, while kicker Nick Novak delivered field goals of 29, 51 and 51 yards.

Houston cornerback Kareem Jackson capped the exceptional defensive performance with a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown with 3:09 left to play, his second career pick-6.

Bortles passed for 239 yards plus two interceptions and was sacked on the last play from scrimmage. The Jaguars closed the season with five losses in its last six games.

NOTES: Jaguars WR Neal Sterling was sidelined with a concussion in the first half and did not return. … Texans LT Duane Brown was carted off the field with a right knee injury with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter. Brown suffered the injury while pulling across the formation on a 5-yard gain by RB Alfred Blue. Brown had his right leg placed in an air cast. … With his 22-yard reception in the second quarter, Jaguars WR Allen Robinson recorded his 30th reception of at least 20 yards, the most in the NFL this season and the most in franchise history. … With his second sack of the game, Texans LB Whitney Mercilus increased his season total to 10.5 sacks and joined DE J.J. Watt (15.5) in double digits, marking the first time in franchise history the Texans had two players with at least 10 sacks in a single season. … Texans WR Nate Washington departed with a hip injury late in the first half and did not return.