After a sluggish start for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, momentum swung even harder in the Houston Texans’ direction when a 51-yard field goal attempt for Brandon McManus was blocked. Instead of cutting the Texans’ lead to 7-3, the visiting team quickly ballooned its lead to 14 points.
To block the kick, the Texans didn’t have a speedy player dive to make the play after bending around the edge. They didn’t have a player jump over the lines. And there wasn’t a Jaguars lineman pancaked on his back by a Houston player bulldozing his way to the kicker.
Buy Jaguars TicketsSo why was Texans rookie linebacker Will Anderson Jr. able to squeeze through a gap and make the play?
“The way field goal protection works, everybody has to be in unison,” Jaguars special teams coordinator Heath Farwell explained Thursday. “It’s all interlocked in. When you have one guy that’s off or two guys that are off, you get a little crease.
“Our left tackle who has done a really good job for us so far this season, just got a little leaning forward and didn’t get his outside arm up. His job is to be interlocked in with that tackle, and make sure he has a heavy weight foot as his inside foot, so he doesn’t get pried out. Also, get a good arm hook. When you get a little crease like that, a good rusher like [Anderson], he’s able to get in there.”
Will Anderson blocked field goal 😩 Walker Little's only glaring mistake Sunday #Jaguars #InsideAnchorAndHook pic.twitter.com/bP5kqzMbKg
— Travis D. Holmes (@TravisDHolmes) September 29, 2023
While Farwell didn’t name anyone specifically, the issue came when tackles Walker Little and Anton Harrison didn’t work in unison on the left side of the line.
“Just not great execution and that’s on me,” Farwell said. “That’s something we have got to be much cleaner, that’s something we will work on a ton and it’s been addressed. We’re moving forward with it.”
It was one of two massive errors for the Jaguars special teams unit Sunday, as the team also allowed Texans fullback Andrew Beck to break free for an 85-yard kickoff return.
