Hurricanes overshadow Jags’ win over Texans
HOUSTON — Celebrations of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ win over the Houston Texans were tempered by concerns for their state as Hurricane Irma made landfall on Sunday, with the mammoth storm threatening to affect all of Florida.
“It was a nice win, but you can really only enjoy it momentarily because our thoughts and prayers are back with everyone in Florida,” coach Doug Marrone said, “… and hoping that they’re safe.”
The uncertainty of the storm also left their plans for the week in limbo. Teams normally return home immediately after games, but the Jaguars were staying in Houston on Sunday night and will decide what their next step is today.
Leonard Fournette ran for 100 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut, and Jacksonville had a franchise-record 10 sacks and forced four turnovers to get the 29-7 victory.
“I was feeling anxious and ready for Week 1 to start and write a new narrative and kind of change the script,” said Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles who was 0-6 against Houston entering the game. “I thought we did a great job up front, and we were able to run the ball well, so it made my job easy.”
The Texans hoped to provide a boost to the area ravaged by Hurricane Harvey with a win. Instead, Tom Savage struggled behind a porous line and was benched in favor of rookie Deshaun Watson at halftime with Houston down 19-0.
“It was a terrible day on offense, but it wasn’t that much better defensively … we have a lot of work to do,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “I told the team we’ve got to stick together and we’ve got to get back to work right away.”
J.J. Watt returned after missing 13 games last season after back surgery, but injured his finger in the first half and finished with just one tackle. He was asked to describe his play. “Terrible,” he said. “There’s only way to go from here and that’s up. Can’t play much worse.”
Before the national anthem, fans were asked to pause for a moment of silence for the victims of Harvey as well as those in the path of Hurricane Irma.
Louie Galvez, an Iraq veteran, tailgated before the game with a group of friends and family outfitted in matching shirts that read “Houstrong.” Galvez was glad to get away from the job of replacing carpet and sheet rock in his suburban Houston home after it was hit by Harvey’s floodwaters.
“We’re taking a break from what actually happened, the reality,” he said. “We’re going to watch our Texans. We’re going to support them all the way … it gives us a little bit of hope.”