Today in 2002 - Houston Texans vs Jacksonville Jaguars

October 27, 2002 – Today in 2002 the Houston Texans went to Alltel Stadium to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in a Week 7 meeting.

After a scoreless first quarter, Jimmy Smith caught a 25 yard touchdown pass from Mark Brunell to put the Jaguars on the board first, 7-0.  The Texans answered with a Jonathan Wells 2 yard touchdown rush and the game was tied.  Jacksonville got a safety and led at halftime 9-7.

In the third quarter, Kris Brown kicked a 43 yard field goal, which gave Houston the lead.  But Jacksonville answered with a 34 yard Tim Seder field goal and retook the lead.  At the end of the quarter, the Jaguars led 12-10.

Houston started off the fourth quarter with a 1 yard touchdown pass from David Carr to Billy Miller.  They made the 2-point conversion on a Carr pass to Jabar Gaffney.  Jacksonville responded with a 2 yard Stacey Mack touchdown run, but Brown kicked a 45 yard field goal to win the game.  The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 21-19.

For the Jaguars, Mark Brunell passed 16-34 for 202 yards and a touchdown.  Fred Taylor had 25 rushes for 84 yards.  He also had 3 catches for 22 yards.  Jimmy Smith had 4 receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown.  Danny Clark, John Henderson, Marlon McCree, and Wali Rainer each had a sack.

For the Texans, David Carr passed 11-18 for 184 yards and a touchdown.  Billy Miller had 3 receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown.  Kailee Wong had 2 sacks.  Jeff Posey, Jason Simmons, and Kenny Wright each had a sack.

Jacksonville went to 3-4 and finished the season at 6-10, 3^rd in the AFC South.  Houston went to 2-5 and finished their inaugural season at 4-12, last in the AFC South.

Trivia

• This was the first time these two teams ever played each other.  Houston wasn’t so fortunate in their rematch at home on November 17.  Houston trailed and came back, but fell short at the end of the game.  Jacksonville won 24-21.
  
• Obviously, this was Dom Capers’ first season coaching the Texans.  He coached the team from 2002-05.  He coached another expansion team, the Carolina Panthers, from 1995-98 and led the Panthers to the NFC Championship game in 1996.
  
• This was Tom Coughlin’s sixth season coaching the Jaguars.  He was the team’s first head coach and coached the team from 1995-2002.  Like Capers, he led the Jaguars to the AFC Championship game in 1996.  It’s the only time two expansion teams ever made it to their respective conference championship games in their second year of existence in the same year.
  
• Coughlin is now the head coach of the New York Giants and has coached the team since 2004.
  
• Jaguars’ tight ends coach is Miami’s head coach Tony Sporano.
  
• Texans’ offensive coordinator Chris Palmer was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 1999-2000.

Here are some historical scores on this day for teams facing each other this week, on October 27,

1946 – San Francisco 34 – Cleveland 20

2008 – Indianapolis 31 – Tennessee 21

Game stats can be found on Pro-Football-Reference.com at Houston Texans vs Jacksonville Jaguars - October 27, 2002.