NFL Old School Game of the Week: Jaguars Knock off Texans with Hail Mary Touchdown

 

Mike Thomas is hoisted onto the shoulders of some Jaguars players following his game-winning touchdown catch against the Texans in 2010.

Standing at 5 foot 8 inches, wide receiver Mike Thomas was the smallest player on the 2010 Jacksonville Jaguars roster.

However, Thomas would be a part of probably the biggest play in Jaguars history when Jacksonville hosted the Houston Texans in week 10 of the 2010 NFL season.

The Jaguars entered the game with a 4-4 record as the team was hoping to return to the playoffs after missing the postseason the previous two seasons.

The Jaguars were led by head coach Jack Del Rio, who was in his eighth season as Jacksonville's head coach with an offense led by quarterback David Garrard and running back Maurice Jones-Drew.

Thomas, having caught 48 passes for 453 yards in his rookie season in 2009, had worked his way into the Jags' starting lineup as they prepared to host their division rivals, the Texans.

The Texans also came into the game with a 4-4 record as they were looking for their first trip to the postseason since the franchise's inception back in 2002.

Houston was led by head coach Gary Kubiak, who had directed the Texans to their first winning season with a 9-7 record in 2009, and featured a high-powered offense led by quarterback Matt Schaub, running back Arian Foster, and all-pro wide receiver Andre Johnson.

However, the Texans had one of the worst defenses in the league which had given up 28.25 points pre game up to this point in the season.

If the Texans were going to beat the Jaguars, they would need their defense to play better.

The Jaguars got the ball to start the game as they were able to drive from their 28-yard-line to the Houston 11-yard-line until Garrard was sacked by Texans defensive ends Mario Williams and Mark Anderson for a nine-yard-loss on 3rd & 10, forcing Jacksonville to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Josh Scobee to give Jacksonville a 3-0 lead.

The Texans would begin their initial possession of the game at their 25-yard-line as Schaub came out firing completing his first four passes for 53 yards to lead the Houston offense to the Jacksonville 20-yard-line when Foster carried the ball for 14 yards to set up 1st & goal at the Jaguars' six-yard-line.

However, the Texans would not pick up another yard as a run by Foster was stopped for no gain and two incomplete passes would force Houston to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Neil Rackers to tie the game at 3.

Both teams would trade punts as the game moved into the second quarter when the Jaguars had the ball at their 48-yard-line when Jones-Drew made his presence felt as he carried the ball on eight of the nine plays for 37 yards on the 52-yard drive that culminated with MJD punching it in for a three-yard touchdown to give Jacksonville a 10-3 lead with 5:32 left in the second quarter.

The Jaguars' defense would hold the Texans to a punt to get their offense the ball back at their 45-yard-line with 1:51 left before halftime when Jones-Drew picked up where he left off as ran the ball twice, gaining 10 yards and a 1st down at the Houston 45-yard-line.

That is when Garrard found tight end Mercedes Lewis for a five-yard completion, then connected with Thomas for 13 yards, and then with MJD for nine yards which became 18 yards when Texans defensive back Troy Nolan was flagged for a late hit to give the Jaguars a 1st & goal at the Houston nine-yard-line.

Jones-Drew would then run up the middle for a nine-yard touchdown to extend the Jaguars' lead to 17-3 with 38 seconds left before halftime.

The Texans would not be able to put together a drive to pick up some points before halftime as Houston went into the locker room trailing 17-3 but set to get the ball to start the second half.

Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew carried the ball 24 times for 100 yards and scored two TDs.

On the first offensive snap of the second half, Foster caught a screen pass from Schaub and turned into a 77-yard gain to apparently give Houston a 1st & goal at the Jaguars' three-yard-line, only to have it wiped out because of a pass interference call on Johnson which pushed the Texans back 10 yards to their 10-yard-line.

Johnson would make up for the penalty as he caught a 21-yard pass on 1st & 20 to give Houston a 1st down at its 31-yard-line then had a 60-yard catch to give the Texans a 1st & goal at the Jaguars' six-yard-line.

Foster would carry the ball on the next three plays with the last carry being an one-yard touchdown to cut the Jacksonville lead in half to 17-10 with 11:19 left in the third quarter.

After forcing the Jaguars to punt on their first possession of the second half, the Texans would drive 80 yards in eight plays as Schaub would go a perfect 4-for-4 on the drive for 59 yards with the last completion being an nine-yard touchdown to Johnson that with the extra point tied the game at 17 with 5:10 left in the third quarter.

The Jaguars would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line as Garrard would complete his next five passes for 64 yards to lead Jacksonville to the Houston 21-yard-line as the third quarter came to an end with Jacksonville on the verge of retaking the lead with a field goal.

However, Scobee's 39-yard field goal attempt would sail wide right and no good to keep the score tied at 17 as the fourth quarter got underway.

The Jaguars defense would force a Houston punt to give their offense the ball back at their 13-yard-line as Jacksonville drove to its 43-yard-line until they were faced with a 4th & 1 situation when Del Rio decided to go for the 1st down which he got when Garrard ran for five yards.

On the very next play, Garrard would throw deep and hit tight end Zach Miller for a 52-yard touchdown to give the Jaguars a 24-17 lead with 6:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Texans would begin its next drive at its 20-yard-line as Schaub connected with Johnson for 19 yards to start the drive then after two straight running plays picked up nine yards, Schaub tried to hit Johnson on a deep pass that fell incomplete but drew a pass interference penalty on Jaguars cornerback Rashaun Mathis to give the Texans a 1st down at the Jacksonville 30-yard-line,

Following a 12-yard run by Foster, the Texans had a 18-yard touchdown pass from Schaub to Johnson wiped out by offsetting penalties only to have Schaub hit Kevin Walter for a 18-yard touchdown on the very next play that with the extra point made it 24-24 with 4:19 left in regulation.

The Jaguars would start its next possession at their 20-yard-line as Garrard connected with Lewis for 13 yards on 1st down which was followed by a 20-yard run by Thomas on a reverse to put Jacksonville in Houston territory at the Texans' 47-yard-line.

A three-yard run by MJD followed by a 14-yard pass from Garrard to Thomas gave the Jaguars a 1st down at the Houston 30-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit.

David Garrard completed 24 of 31 passes for 342 yards plus ran for 35 yards on seven carries.

The next play had Jones-Drew running for two yards to make it 2nd & 8 when MJD appeared to have given the Jaguars a 1st down with an eight-yard run only to have it nullified because of a holding penalty which pushed Jacksonville back 10 yards to the Houston 38-yard-line where it faced 2nd & 18.

A six-yard pass from Garrard to Lewis followed by a seven-yard run by Jones-Drew would put the Jaguars at the Texans' 25-yard-line when Scobee was called upon to attempt a 43-yard field goal which would give Jacksonville the lead.

But once again Scobee would miss the field goal as his kick sailed wide left to give the ball to the Texans at their 33-yard-line with 94 seconds left in regulation to try and drive down into field goal range for Rackers.

Schaub would hit Foster for four yards, then scrambled for eight yards to pick up a 1st down at the Houston 45-yard-line as Schaub would complete back-to-back passes totaling 15 yards before he spiked the ball at the Jacksonville 40-yard-line with 22 seconds left in regulation.

A false start penalty and an incomplete pass would bring up 3rd & 15 when Schaub found tight end Joel Dressen for a seven-yard gain only to have Jaguars free safety Sean Considine knock the ball loose leading to a fumble recovery by linebacker Justin Durant to give Jacksonville the ball at its 34-yard-line with eight seconds left in regulation.

Garrard would complete a 11-yard pass to Lewis who went out of bounds to stop the clock with three seconds left as the Jaguars set up to throw a Hail Mary before the end of regulation.

Texans defensive end Antonio Smith jumped offsides to move the Jaguars five yards forward to the 50-yard-line when Garrard took the snap and heaved a pass toward the left side of the field.

As the ball was coming down near the goal line, Texans cornerback Glover Quin jumped up to knock the ball down, only to have the deflection land in the hands of Thomas, who caught the ball half a yard of the end zone, then stepped into the end zone to complete the shocking 50-yard touchdown.

Following a wild celebration which drew an unsportsmanlike penalty, Scobee came on to kick the extra point to complete the 31-24 victory for the Jaguars.

The Texans never recovered from the loss as they would win only two more games to finish the season with a 6-10 record despite the fact that Foster would win the league's rushing title as he finished with 1,616 yards.

The combination of new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and the selection of defensive end J.J. Watt with their first round pick would change the fortunes of the Texans as their defense would propel Houston to the playoffs the following season.

As for the Jaguars, they would finish the season with a 8-8 record as they lost their last three games of the season including a 34-17 loss to the Texans in the final week of the season to miss the playoffs again.

Thomas would remain with the Jaguars for one more season before being traded to the Detroit Lions for a fifth-round draft pick midway through the 2012 season where he only caught five passes for 28 yards before bouncing around the league for the next few seasons before ultimately retiring from the NFL after the 2015 season.