After the Houston Texans fell to 0-3 with a loss at home

to the New York Giants on Sept. 23 Jalen Ramsey Jersey , they appeared to be headed for a second straight losing season.Instead, the Texans (11-5) won their next nine games and 11 of their last 13, capped by Sunday’s 20-3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, to clinch the AFC South title.“We have a lot bigger goals,” J.J. Watt said. “I have a lot bigger goals but it’s good. Especially after starting 0-3 and everybody writes you off. Guys in the locker room believed. Guys in the locker room never gave up.”Deshaun Watson threw for 234 yards and ran for a touchdown and DeAndre Hopkins had 147 yards receiving in the victory.The Texans will make their fifth playoff appearance after winning the division for the fifth time in franchise history. Houston returns to the postseason for the third time in four years after bouncing back a 4-12 campaign in which Watson and Watt suffered season-ending injuries.“The way we started out, it’s a testament to the players in that locker room,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “They’ve always hung tough. And to go from 0-3 (and then) go 11-2 in this league is pretty tough to do. Give credit to the players.”Houston built a 14-point lead in the first half behind rushing touchdowns by Watson and Lamar Miller and made it 20-3 on a 24-yard field goal with about 11 minutes left. The Jaguars had a chance to cut the lead later in the fourth quarter, but Blake Bortles was intercepted in the end zone by Andre Hal.Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a statement that his director of football operations, Tom Coughlin Womens Brandon Linder Jersey , has decided to retain coach Doug Marrone and general manager Dave Caldwell — even though the team finished in last place a year after playing in the AFC title game. Khan said he agreed with the decision.“We get judged on wins and losses,” Marrone said. “Obviously, this year, I didn’t do a good job. Period. I’m never going to step away from that. I’m happy with the faith because I do believe I will get this right.”The Jaguars (5-11) returned to Bortles as starter after benching the quarterback following a loss to Buffalo on Nov. 25. But he did little to get Jacksonville’s offense going, with the Jaguars managing one first down in the opening half and finishing with six. Bortles was 15 of 28 for 107 yards.Watt sacked Bortles 1½ times to finish with 16 this year. Watt has four seasons with 15 or more sacks, second most in NFL history to Reggie White (five).The performance by Hopkins gives him 1,572 yards receiving and 115 receptions this season, both career highs. His catch total tied Andre Johnson (2008) for the most in franchise history.“A lot of guys have amazing seasons, but their team isn’t where it should be http://www.thejaguarslockerroom.com/authentic-niles-paul-jersey ,” Hopkins said. “So I think everything I’ve been doing has correlated to my team winning, which is even better.”KEY PLAYSDede Westbrook muffed a punt late in the first quarter, and Zach Cunningham recovered. Watson capitalized with a 5-yard scramble that made it 10-3 early in the second quarter.The Texans faced a third-and-6 late in the second quarter when Myles Jack deflected a pass and Hopkins grabbed it for a 13-yard gain. Miller ran 7 yards for a touchdown on the next play, dragging two defenders into the end zone to make it 17-3.BAD BEHAVIORCoughlin had strong words for running backs Leonard Fournette and T.J. Yeldon after the game.Fournette, who was inactive because of foot and ankle injuries, and Yeldon were caught by TV cameras sitting on the bench and chatting while the offense had the ball. They were clearly disengaged with teammates and coaches.“I am disappointed in the behavior today from T.J. Yeldon and Leonard Fournette,” Coughlin said. “They were disrespectful, selfish and their behavior was unbecoming that of a professional football player.”TEXANS NUMBERSHopkins is the fourth player in NFL history (Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison and Brandon Marshall) to have at least 100 receptions http://www.thejaguarslockerroom.com/authentic-keelan-cole-jersey , 1,500 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns in multiple seasons. He had 111 receptions for 1,521 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015.Watson, who ran for 66 yards on Sunday, is the first player in NFL history to throw for at least 4,000 yards (4,165) and 25 touchdowns (26) and rush for 500 yards (551) and five touchdowns in a season.ANDRE AND DEANDREHopkins brought Johnson to the podium with him after the game, and the retired receiver raved about his protege.“One thing that I appreciate about him is when he first came into the league he asked me about things he needed to do to better his game,” Johnson said. “He took that to a whole other level. To see what he’s accomplished Womens Marcell Dareus Jersey , what he’s doing out on the field, it’s amazing.”INJURIESJaguars: Jacksonville was without starting cornerback A.J. Bouye (toe injury).Texans: Starting cornerback Johnathan Joseph sat out with a neck injury.UP NEXTJaguars: Jacksonville must decide what to do with Bortles before next season. Most believe he won’t return in 2019 after going 24-49 as a starter in five seasons. The third overall pick in the 2014 draft also is due to count $21 million against the salary cap, and the Jags can save $9.5 million by cutting him with a post-June 1 designation.Texans: Will host the winner of Sunday night’s Colts-Titans game next weekend, barring a tie between those teams. The Jacksonville Jaguars have released quarterback Blake Bortles, a move most expected after a disappointing 2018 NFL season. Releasing Bortles saves the Jaguars $4.5 million in salary cap space..."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Jaguars Free Agency 2016Jaguars Film RoomNFL DraftJaguars Injury NewsLatest NewsJaguars release Blake BortlesNew,142commentsEDTShareTweetShareShareJaguars release Blake BortlesDouglas DeFelice-USA TODAY SportsThe Jacksonville Jaguars have released quarterback Blake Bortles, a move most expected after a disappointing 2018 NFL season. Releasing Bortles saves the Jaguars $4.5 million in salary cap space with a dead money hit of $16.5 million. While it has not been announced how the cut is being applied just yet, the team can designate Bortles a post-June 1 cut, splitting his dead money between 2019 and 2020 Josh Lambo Jersey , moving the total cap savings to $9.5 million.As mentioned, the move was expected by quite a few this offseason, despite the fact that Bortles was fresh off a new deal last offseason. Following a 2017 NFL season that had the Jaguars on the door step of the Super Bowl, the team gave Bortles a new deal in the hopes that the light had finally come on. Despite a quick start to the 2018 season, the wheels seemed to come off against the Kansas City Chiefs and never got right thanks to massive injury hits on the offensive side of the ball. Bortles was benched mid-season in favor of Cody Kessler, who didn’t fair any better, and it became clear the Jaguars were going to be moving on.Bortles was given one last start in the final game of the season and predictably it ended in disaster. He finished the 2018 season with 13 passing touchdowns and 11 interceptions, more in line with what his numbers had been through his career outside of 2015.