HOUSTON _ Often Sunday, Jaguars rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew saw his pocket close quickly with Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt coming hard from the edge and pressure coming through the middle.
He still tried to provide a spark like he did last week after replacing injured starter Nick Foles and promptly completed his first 13 passes on his way to a record-breaking performance in last week's loss to Kansas City.
But the Jaguars couldn't avoid starting the season 0-2 after losing to the Texans 13-12 in their AFC South opener after Leonard Fournette was stopped short of crossing the end zone on the two-point conversion run.
With two minutes remaining, Minshew lived up to mania that has spreaded around the Jacksonville for the past week. He marched the 68 yards for a touchdown with 30 yards, throwing a 4-yard pass to DJ Chark in the corner of the end zone. Instead of kicking the point-after-touchdown kick to tie the score and possibly send it to overtime, Marrone opted for the two-point conversion. Fournette got a good surge, but he was stopped short.
But Minshew completed 23 of 33 passes for 213 yards, but he got hit hard and was sacked four times and lost a fumble deep in his own territory in the fourth quarter that led to a Texans' Deshaun Watson's 2-yard touchdown run.
Until early in the fourth quarter, Minshew's successful drive came midway in the second quarter when he led the Jaguars on a 10-play, 47-yard drive that ended on Josh Lambo's 40-yard field goal that tied the score at 3.
Still, the Jaguars receivers struggled to get separation until the fourth quarter. The offensive play-calling was too predictable, running too often on first down. The Texans game plan was simple � unravel the rookie quarterback with blitz packages and explosive pressure off the edge.
In addition to pass protection breakdowns, the Jaguars were their own worst enemy. They had too many miscues like in the third quarter when it appeared Leonard Fournette had a first down on a 3-and-1 play, but center Brandon Linder was flagged for holding.
On the next play, left tackle Josh Richardson was called for a false start and after an 8-yard scramble by Minshew, Logan Cooke was on the field again for his sixth punt of the game.
Early in the fourth quarter, Minshew made a beautiful 30-yard throw to DJ Chark, but the play was nullified when right tackle Jawaan Taylor was called for holding. Then, Minshew was sacked and lost a fumble that gave the Texans the ball at the Jaguars' 20. In four plays, the Texans turned a tight 6-3 game into a 13-3 lead after Watson's 2-yard run that came after a missed tackle by defensive tackle Marcell Dareus.
When the Jaguars turned to their second option, Fournette mostly ran into a loaded box of defenders. He did what he could
However, Minshew's lone successful drive came midway in the second quarter when he led the Jaguars on a 10-play, 47-yard march that ended on Josh Lambo's 40-yard field goal that tied the score at 3. Mindshew's best throw on the drive was an 18-yard completion to Chris Conley on a slant route. But he was sacked on the next play before Fournette ran for 14 yards to keep the drive going.
The Jaguars managed to make it a one score game with just more than six minutes remained in the game after Lambo's 32-yard field goal put the Jaguars within 13-6.
