NFL 2019 INTERNATIONAL LONDON GAME 4 -- HOUSTON TEXANS vs JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

This Sunday sees the final of the four NFL London games and pits Houston Texans against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium. Houston from the AFC South visit London to face the regular London attendees Jacksonville in a conference head to head fixture. The current season stats suggest it should be a close game in London this Sunday. 

The game will be shown LIVE on BBC Tv on Sunday afternoon the show should begin about 2pm The live game, once again to be played at Wembley Stadium, pits Texans head coach Bill O'Brien against Jaguars supremo Doug Marrone. The Texans possess Deshaun Watson, one of the most exciting and dynamic quarterbacks in the NFL. He faces off against another young sensation in Gardner Minshew II. The rookie is only playing due to the injury suffered in the opening weekend of the season by starting quarterback Nick Foles, but has lit up the league with a series of record-breaking performances.

Nat Coombs presents all the action with expert analysis by two time Superbowl winner Osi Umenyiora, NFL cornerback Jason Bell and writer/journalist Mike Carlson.

Sunday 3rd November
Houston Texans vs Jacsonville Jaguars @ Wembley Stadium

Another sell out crowd of over 84,000 is expected for these popular matches and kick off is expected to be around 2:30pm (Uk Time). 

Current season record 

  Houston Texans
    - P8 W5 L3 F212 A188
  Jacksonville Jaguars
    - P8 W4 L4 F173 A163

Head Coach -- Doug Marrone

Week 9 of the regular season and while both teams are "away" in London technically this is a home fixture for Jacksonville Jaguars who are led from the sidelines by Doug Marrone the 55 year old former head coach of the Buffolo Bills and Doug also played for the London Monarchs and now takes control of the Jaguars who are the regular visitors to London now. On the field their Quarterback would have been superbowl winner Nick Foles who is currently injured and his place has been superbly taken up by Gardner Minshew who has quickly become something of a cult figure in the NFL. Elsewhere for the Jaguars they have one of the best running backs in the league with Leonard Fournette he is the AFC’s leading rusher and the league’s No. 2 rusher with 791 yards to his name. At this point, the only thing he can do better is getting in the end zone more with just one touchdown to his name. In the defensive line we have the likes of Josh Allen and Taven Bryan currently playing well ahead of themselves. 

Head Coach -- Bill O'Brien

The Houston Texans are led by head coach Bill O'Brien and have one of the leagues more exciting   Quarterbacks in Deshaun Watson and he's been setting NFL records for a rookie Quarterback and is very athletic, able to get himself out of trouble and known for running in touchdowns himself it will be interesting to see how the Jaguars defence look to cope. Elsewhere without the services of JJ Watt and Lamar Miller (both injured for the season) the Texans will look towards Darren Fells who was outstanding in last weekends win over the Oakland Raiders.

Both teams will then have a bye week [week 10] to recover from their travels following these matches.

Previous visits to London?
Houston Texans (AFC South) this will be their first visit to London although they did play an International Series game in Mexico in 2016 losing 27-20 to Oakland Raiders.

This season's opponents and home team Jacksonville Jaguars (AFC South) have been to Wembley seven times previously as part of a long term deal with the NFL by owner Shahid Khan.

It will be a full house and the crowd will be roaring both teams home. Expect the stadium to be full of shirts from ALL NFL teams. We will aim to keep a brief summary of each quarter as the game progresses, should be a great start to this series of UK fixtures which will surely grow until we have our own regular season NFL franchise. Also ensure you catch all the build up and highlights of matches played earlier on their regular Saturday night NFL Show with Jason Bell and Osi Umenyiora joining in the fun this season - have a great day all. 

I'm going for a Houston win and over 45 points in the match, also backing the over 21 points score at half time too. 

1st Quarter;
Ready at Wembley with the teams out and the anthems are done too, Jacksonville have won the coin toss and chose to kick off the first half so Logan Cooke gets us underway and Houston will have the first drive from the 19 yard line. Deshaun Watson secures three 1st downs on the opening drive moving up to the half way line. Watson runs himself for a first down but consecutive penalties stalls the play and they have to settle for a 52y field goal from Ka'imi Fairbairn to open the scoring in London and that is the 1st score the Texans have managed in their opening drive this season. Jaguars receive the ball for their opening drive on the 19y line but doesn't last long and they have to punt it away so the Texans begin again from their own 6y line their running game is slow progress and the first quarter is quickly running out of time while another incomplete passes means they have to punt it away giving Jaguars some field position on the 30y line for their second drive opportunity. Texans second drive and Leonard Fournette makes a first down but the Jaguars cannot keep it going and are 3rd down and long as the opening quarter comes to an end.
2nd Quarter;
Jaguars have to punt it away and the Texans start the 2nd Q from their 20y line, start making plenty of 1st downs including a 4th down completion to keep things going into the Jaguars half, Kenny Stills receptions and Duke Johnson carries this needs to translate into points DeAndre Hopkins runs the ball up to the 1yd line and it's 1st and Goal for the first time and Darren Fells runs it in for a touchdown but the extra point is blocked. Gardner Minshew hasn't really got his offence going yet but things change up for them as gets hit by his own man but stays on his toes and then finds Ryquell Armstead for a huge 38-yard gain and a further first down from running back Fournette followed by Chris Conley moving them into the red zone as the two minute warning is reached, big chance for points for the Jaguars before halftime, Josh Lambo comes out and kicks the field goal to put Jaguars on the board 9-3. Less than two minutes for Houston to put together some plays before the half comes to an end, Watson running himself for a 14y gain, but a penalty and a dubious call means that Houston have a shot to increase their advantage with another Fairbairn field goal but it's wide and short. 

H/T Score;   Houston Texans 9 - 3 Jacksonville Jaguars.

3rd Quarter;
Jaguars receive the ball for the start of the second half, they down by six, it's a close game but you feel they need to score first this half. And despite some good offence from Minshew and co they mess up on a field goal snap and it's turned over almost on the half way line and it's still 9-3. Houston try and take it forwards but are held back by penalties, until a successful throw from Watson to Kenny Stills secures a first down but another offensive penalty takes them back ten yards again with over half way through the quarter already gone. Houston settle for another Ka'Imi Fairbairn field goal from 42 yards and it's 12-3 Texans in London. Minshew tries to get his team forwards and runs himself for a first down but further failures to progress means they have to punt it away again and Houston start again from their 20y line. Big play from Carlos Hyde running 48yds and they well into Jacksonville territory, DeAndre Hopkins takes the ball to the ONE yard line and another TD is secured by Duke Johnson and Houston are looking to put this out of sight now.
4th Quarter;
Jaguars begin the final quarter on their own 25y line and need to make something happen quick, their defence also need a long break looking very tired now. They've picked up a few first downs which gets them to the Houston 35y line, then Minshew is sacked and they lose five precious yards and a down, an incomplete pass they third and long in need of something big now which they get as Chris Conley is wide open and gains 20y giving them a first down in the red zone they go for it on 4th down and 10, and it looked a good catch initially but ruled an incomplete pass on review so they turn it over on downs and the final nail in the Jaguars coffin today is a first interception thrown by Gardner Minshew this season [Interception by Jahleel Addae] which will probably be the end of today's game with time running down and Houston back with the ball. Carlos Hyde runs through a huge gap and he's away, pumping those legs and going for the corner. It's surely a touchdown but then Jarrod Wilson makes the tackle and takes the ball away on the one-yard line. The final score from DeAndre Hopkins (extra point good) extends the Houston Texans lead after Minshew throws another interception throw.

F/T Score;    Houston Texans 26 - 3 Jacksonville Jaguars.
Attendance today: 84,771

The Houston Texans are now 6-3 and this loss means Jacksonville Jaguars are now 4-5.

And that is all we have from London for this season, hope you enjoy the rest of the games and then we'll take a look at the play offs nearer the time. This season Superbowl LIV is at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and will be broadcast live on BBC TV again on 2nd February 2020.