Stroud played his best game of the season. He completed 27 of 40 (67.5 percent) for 345 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He averaged 8.6 yards per attempt, was sacked twice for 11 yards and knocked down six times. He finished with a score of 110.9.

Most impressive? Stroud connected with his receivers on seven explosive plays of at least 20 yards. The Texans only had seven in their first three games.

Collins once again had a spectacular performance, catching 12 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. He should have had two touchdowns. He was wide open in the back of the end zone, but Stroud knocked him down. Collins set a team record with 489 yards passing through the first four games of the season, surpassing DeAndre Hopkins' 443 in 2018.

When asked about the Stroud-Collins connection, Ryans said: “Nico is open. That's why the connection is strong. He is also very competitive at the catch point. “He's a strong, physical, fast and big (6-4, 220) receiver. “That's an easy target for CJ, and Nico has shown up every time we've needed him.”

Collins and Diggs each had two explosive plays. Ogunbowale, who had an impressive 31-yard catch-and-run, Dalton Schultz and Cade Stover each had an explosive reception.

“CJ has worked through his progressions really well,” Ryans said. “I thought our protection would be better. He had plenty of time to make these reads. He had plenty of time to escape the pocket and make the plays he needed to make. He did a good job of getting his eyes downfield and finding the open receiver. Big day for him.

Ryans also praised Collins for making so many big plays.

“Nico deserves all the praise and recognition he gets,” Ryans said. “He’s one of the top receivers in the league and he shows it. He doesn't have to talk about it. He shows it by what he does from game to game. He proves that he is one of the best.” “

Diggs, who faces his former team Buffalo in the next game at NRG Stadium, also deserves praise for his smart move on the first touchdown. The Texans had a third down at the Jaguars' 6. Diggs received the ball from Stroud to his right. He was supposed to throw the ball into the end zone on a gadget play, but instead of throwing into coverage and risking an interception, he ran and scored the score, 7-7.

But then penalties became a problem for the third time in a row. Seven of the eleven penalties were called by the offensive line. Kenyon Green led the way with three. Laremy Tunsil, who left the game with an ankle injury but returned in the second half, had two waits. Shaq Mason also took two penalties. Kudos to Juice Scruggs and Tytus Howard who didn't get called.

“The penalties that bother me the most are the mental penalties,” Ryans said. “These are the punishments I can’t stand. If we want to be a good team, we have to play smart. A lot of them are just unnecessary punishments, right? You don’t need them.” They don’t help us at all.

“Positive things are happening for us and we are taking a step backwards. We're in field goal range and we're falling behind because of our own mistakes. It feels like every time I come up here I've broken a record (but) the Texans have to stay out of the Texans' way for us to be a good team.

Now let's get to the defense. There was one legitimate touchdown drive in the third quarter when the Jaguars went 74 yards in seven plays. Lawrence's 7-yard touchdown pass to Christian Kirk gave them a 20-17 lead with 6:16 left in the quarter.

“We didn’t play our style of ball,” Ryans said. “We didn’t stop the run. We didn't set the edge. The ball came out a few times and they were able to make explosive runs. We weren't tight and sticky in coverage. That was just out of character for how we play.

“The attitude of the defense depends on the attitude. We didn't play with the right attitude in some of those attacks and they were able to outrun us. It's about the attitude, the effort and the physicality. When we had to get up and make a play. “Their guys showed up on third down and made some great plays.”

The next time Jacksonville got the ball, Tank Bigsby broke loose up the middle for a 58-yard run that would have been a touchdown had Bullock not brought him down at the Texans' 4. Bullock's play seemed to transform the defense.

“One thing our defense is based on is effort,” Ryans said. “There is no better play that expresses this accomplishment than Calen giving us a blade of grass to stand on. Calen's attempt to take him down and stop him and help us regroup after such a big play and be able to get a stop there. “The red zone was a big turning point in the game .

“It shows what effort means and if you approach the game correctly with any kind of effort it can put you in a position to be on the winning side. Proud of Calen for his effort.”

As the clock expired in the third quarter, Azeez Al-Shair intercepted Bigsby for a 2-yard gain. Then Danielle Hunter and Henry To'oTo'o intercepted Bigsby for a 1-yard gain. On third-and-1, Derek Stingley Jr. broke up a pass and the quarter ended.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson went for the touchdown. He spread his receivers out and had Lawrence take the shotgun snap and run up the middle, where he ran into a wall of defensive tackles Foley Fatukasi and Mario Edwards.

Stroud led the Texans from their 1st to Jacksonville's 36th, but penalties forced them to punt. Then Tommy Townsend had to punt in the next series. When the Jaguars got the ball at their 28-yard line with 3:51 left, they needed to take some time to secure the win, but they couldn't.

Travis Etienne was stopped by Tim Settle for a 1-yard gain. Then Jalen Pitre and Eric Murray, who had the Texans' only sack on a blitz, broke up passes on second and third downs.

When Stroud got the ball back on his 31st point with 2:54 to play, the Texans could no longer be defended.

On the game-winning drive – his fourth of the fourth quarter and overtime – Stroud was 5 of 5 for 45 yards. He also ran for 12 yards twice. On second-and-goal from the 1, he threw the winning touchdown pass to Ogunbowale, who had two receptions and two runs on the possession.

“Dare got one of the game balls,” Ryans said. “Everyone knows the touchdown he caught, but Dare is a guy who does it right and a guy we can count on. Those are the guys I want out there, guys we can trust and they’re reliable.”

The Texans scored with 18 seconds left. That was intentional.