Texans 34, Jaguars 31: Fairbairn From 49 as Wembley Expires

October 18, 2026 - London - The clock was gone. Ka'imi Fairbairn had 49 yards of Wembley grass in front of him and a three-game Jacksonville winning streak hanging on the kick. He made it. The Houston Texans left England 34-31.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are 4-2 and still first in the AFC South. They are also the first club this year to give up a first-quarter score, and the first to give up 34, the most they had allowed since Houston got them for 36 last November. C.J. Stroud went 24 of 34 for 312 yards, three touchdowns, and one pick. Trevor Lawrence answered with 24 of 41 for 306, four scores, and one interception. Neither team recorded a sack.

Houston is 2-4. DeMeco Ryans' club has now beaten Jacksonville twice in London.

7-0, then a half that would not sit still

Stroud opened it on a 42-yard ball to Nico Collins. Five plays, 62 yards. Foster Moreau was wide open from 7. 7-0, 5:13 of the first, the Jaguars game report said. Jacksonville's second series died on downs at the Houston 38 after a failed fourth-and-3. A long field goal stayed on the sideline.

Lawrence found Bhayshul Tuten from 27 to tie it at 7 with 6:27 left in the second. Fairbairn answered from 25. 10-7. Then the flags started paying for both clubs. A holding call on Brenton Strange wiped a 3-yard Tuten run that would have been a touchdown. Two plays later Kamari Lassiter intercepted Lawrence in the end zone, a ball for Jakobi Meyers. NFL.com said it was the Jaguars' second empty red-zone trip of the half.

Tuten still got his score, from 2 yards, and the Jaguars report has that as a catch. nflverse lists two Tuten receiving touchdowns and zero rushing scores. Either way it was 14-10 Jacksonville before Stroud flipped it again. Jaylin Noel ripped 50 yards. Moreau's one-handed catch from a yard with eight seconds left sent Houston in 17-14. Travis Hunter was flagged for defensive pass interference on the drive, the Jaguars wrote.

Noel, Jordan, then Hunter on both sides

The first series of the third quarter was 11 plays and 65 yards. Noel from 13. 24-14. NFL.com said a too-many-men penalty on a Houston punt had kept that march alive. Nate Boerkircher, a rookie tight end, one-handed a 1-yarder. 24-21. Jawhar Jordan, in his season debut, cut 25 yards for his first career rushing score. 31-21 at 0:50 of the third.

Hunter had started the day on the wrong end of Collins' double move. He finished it as the game. His 7-yard catch from Lawrence made it 31-28 with 11:26 left. On the next Houston series, second-and-goal from the 4, he picked Stroud in the end zone. It was Stroud's first interception of the season, and it ended a 216-attempt streak to open 2026, a Texans franchise record. The Jaguars said Hunter became the first NFL player since 2002 with a receiving touchdown and an interception in the same game. NFL.com had him as the third player in 40 years to do it. He caught four for 59.

Little then did Little things. Fourth-and-4, 1:55 left. Liam Coen sent the kicker. Sixty yards, good. 31-31. The Jaguars' late-night mailbag spent a paragraph defending the decision. Houston still got the ball.

Seven plays, 36 yards. Woody Marks and Jordan ran the clock. Fairbairn from 49 as time expired. The Texans said it was his eighth career game-winning drive for Stroud, and that Fairbairn has now hit 51 straight field goals from inside 50. A Jaguars column called the winner 48. The Texans wrap, the Jaguars game report, and nflverse all list 49.

426 yards on a defense that had not allowed this

Houston piled up 426 yards, the Jaguars said, with 312 through the air and 114 on the ground. Marks ran 15 times for 56. Jordan added 6 for 43. Collins caught three for 74 and stretched his 50-yard receiving streak to 13 games. Noel finished with four for 107, a career high, plus a 36-yard kick return the Texans said was part of 174 all-purpose yards. Marvin Harrison Jr. caught three for 34 in his Houston debut, all first downs.

Lawrence spread four scores to Tuten (twice), Hunter, and Boerkircher. Chris Rodriguez Jr. led Jacksonville with 11 carries for 55. The Jaguars had 412 yards and 24 first downs. Brian Thomas Jr. played 15 snaps, dropped one early, and did not play after halftime, the club wrote. Calen Bullock had the other interception, Lawrence in the end zone in the second quarter. Lassiter led Houston with eight tackles.

Jacksonville goes to a bye at 4-2. Coen said they did not get the result they wanted and that they will not change the process. Lawrence said they do not need to go soul-searching. The Texans host the Giants next Sunday.

AthX Engine on a zero-sack London night

AthX Engine NFL scoring already has the Week 6 line in. Hunter's catch, interception, and defensive snaps land at 63.25, the top total in this game. Bullock is 50.50. Lawrence is 49.23. Stroud is 42.21. Noel is 38.10. Tuten is 35.75. Fairbairn is 24.00. Houston's team line is 74.25. Jacksonville's is 26.00.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what traders will pay for a Texans offense that finally finished in London, and for a two-way Jaguar who almost stole the division lead by himself. They move together. They are not the same number.

Track Stroud, Lawrence, Collins, Fairbairn, and both clubs on the marketplace. The Giants visit Houston on Oct. 25. Jacksonville is on a bye.

*Sources: ESPN recap, Texans.com, Texans Stroud notes, Jaguars game report, Jaguars storylines, NFL.com Week 6. ESPN scoreboard, both clubs, NFL.com, and nflverse agree on 34-31. Fairbairn's winner is 49 in the Texans wrap, Jaguars game report, and nflverse (gwfg 49); a Jaguars mailbag called it 48. nflverse lists Tuten with two receiving touchdowns and zero rushing scores; the Jaguars report called one a 2-yard run. AthX Engine Week 6 lines scored from nflverse weekly stats (CC-BY 4.0). Information only; not financial advice.*