Gene Frenette: Josh Allen sack day for ages keeps Jaguars on AFC South championship track

HOUSTON — When the time comes for the Jacksonville Jaguars to celebrate a third AFC South division championship, which seems much more likely now than not, there’s little debate about which moments will go down as the tipping point.

Just when it seemed like C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans were on the brink of turning the division title chase into a two-team dogfight, Josh Allen stepped up with a memorable 1-2 punch to create some much-needed separation.

Jacksonville Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen (41) celebrates a fourth quarter sack of Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud with teammates K’Lavon Chaisson (45) and Dawuane Smoot (91) that helped seal the Jaguars’ 24-21 victory at NRG Stadium.

More: Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, Texans C.J. Stroud may have entertaining rivalry for next decade

How fitting that it was Allen — after picking up a fumble and scoring the game-winning touchdown against the Tennessee Titans that won the 2022 division crown for the Jaguars — who stepped up Sunday when Houston was about to snatch first place away from them.

“He’s a dog, man,” Jaguars’ defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris said of Allen. “Big players make big plays in big-time moments. Josh is a big player.”

No moment was bigger against the Texans than being faced with the prospect of Stroud – already inching his team close to midfield with 2:30 remaining and down three points – possibly adding another chapter to Houston’s decade-long curse on the Jaguars.

Allen wasn’t having it. The second-leading sacker in Jaguars’ history wouldn’t stop until he put Stroud on the ground.

On a day filled with momentum flips and game-changing plays, Allen’s relentless pursuit of Stroud and twice chasing him down for monumental sacks (one shared with Travon Walker) on Houston’s last possession was the difference in the Jaguars’ 24-21 victory at NRG Stadium.

“When we were out there, Ray [ safety Rayshawn Jenkins] told me that he needed us, and I’m dog-tired,” Allen said. “They’re probably even more tired than I am. Us as a [defensive] front, we got to dig deep. We got to dig deeper than we ever been before.

“Just to give him the confidence that they got a front that can go after any quarterback against any offensive line. We did just that.”

Despite having to contend with three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil, and Stroud scrambling around all day like a madman to buy time, Allen found a way to put the NFL’s sensational rookie quarterback in his place.

First, he zoomed past Tunsil to put Stroud down for a 15-yard loss, which took the game to the 2-minute warning. Still, the Texans’ quarterback managed to moved the chains on passes of 17 and 14 yards.

That got Houston into field-goal range at the Jaguars’ 37, only to have Allen slither past Tunsil and extend his left hand to start pulling Stroud down. Walker then finished him to the ground.

One seven-yard pass and an incompletion later, the Texans elected to have kicker Matt Amenndola attempt a game-tying, 58-yard field goal.

When the kick clanged off the crossbar, extending the Jaguars’ AFC South lead to two games over Houston, it ensured that one of the most memorable pass-rushing sequences in franchise history didn’t go unrewarded.

Balling out at right time

Unlike the Week 18 Titans’ game in January – where he happened to be in the right place at a perfect time to scoop up Jenkins’ strip-sack of quarterback Josh Dobbs — there was nothing fortuitous about Allen’s impact on this victory.

With fatigue setting in for everybody chasing after Stroud, he just kept up his relentless pursuit of the Texans’ QB in the game’s waning moments.

“It was winning time, they’re tired, we’re tired,” said linebacker Foye Oluokun. “Who’s going to make the play that comes to them? He stepped up big in a big situation there. Them sacks, especially with no timeouts left, those are winning plays.”

Allen’s pair of want-to sacks made the difference between Ammendola having to successfully kick what would have been a career-long field goal, as opposed to one from a more manageable distance in the 40-ish range.

“It was just stay in the groove for me personally,” Allen said. “I started off really slow, I missed a couple sacks, missed a tackle for a loss. So for me, it was just like ‘don’t get out of your way, Josh. Just keep hunting.’

“God, He put in my mind early this morning that I’m going to get challenged. Some way, somehow, I’m going to get challenged. For me, it was just to keep fighting. Just keep on hunting, Josh. When my teammates needed me, I was there to show up and I thank God for that.”

Pretty soon, it’ll be his agent and family that will be thanking Allen for putting together a career year at the ideal time. With the 26-year-old, pass-rusher set to become a free agent after the season, a 2.5-sack day with so much at stake figures to add million dollars of dollars to his next contract, be it from the Jaguars or somebody else.

“For sure, Josh balled out today,” said Jaguars’ pass-rusher Dawuane Smoot. “Im definitely happy for my brother. I want the best for him in the future.”

If that future doesn’t include a big enough contract extension from the Jaguars that he can’t refuse before hitting free agency, the team’s fan base might organize a protest rally.

With a team-leading 12 sacks, Allen is on track to break the Jaguars’ single-season sack record of Calais Campbell, who set that mark with 14.5 in 2017. That Campbell surge began, ironically, with a 3.5 sack day at NRG Stadium against Houston in the season opener.

“It definitely brings back memories,” said Smoot, one of only two current Jaguars with the team in 2017. “It’s just a testament to Josh and the work he puts forward and the defensive line’s want-to.”

Entertaining Stroud-Lawrence duel

The game featured a memorable day for the two quarterbacks, with the Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence and Stroud combining for 668 passing yards and four touchdowns (three passing, one running).

It was a back-and-forth duel that essentially came down to one undeniable factor: which offensive line could better keep their quarterback upright?

Despite losing left tackle Cam Robinson to a left leg injury in the first quarter, the Jaguars never let any of the Texans’ pass-rushers get to Lawrence. He had four pass completions of 40-plus yards, including two short throws that running back D’Ernest Johnson and backup tight end Luke Farrell turned into 42-yard gains.

While Lawrence did minimal scrambling, Stroud was constantly either running sideways or spinning away from tacklers to avoid big losses. It also allowed him to get deep passes off to the likes of Xavier Hutchinson (34 yards), Robert Woods (26 yards) and Nico Collins (24 yards), plays that stressed the Jaguars’ defense until Ammendola’s failed kick allowed them to finally exhale.

“I told one of the defensive guys, ‘I’ve never seen a guy scramble that much in one game,’ “ said Lawrence. “[C.J. Stroud] just getting around, finding a way to avoid rushers. Seemed like we had good rush the whole game, and he just kept finding lanes and kept extending plays, and I’m sure as a [defensive back] that’s like the worst thing is when you’re covering for five seconds because he’s extending plays and scrambling around.

“They did a great job offensively of being able to do that and extend plays, but then our pass rush really stepped up at the end of the game and got some huge sacks.”

Allen, as he’s been all season, was the ringleader. The fact that he had his fourth multi-sack game of 2023 against a player the caliber of Tunsil made it one of the best pass-rushing days by any Jaguar.

“Listen, man. I went to school with Laremy Tunsil [at Ole Miss],” said Jaguars’ tight end Evan Engram. “That’s probably the best tackle in the league. He’s been the dude from day one. I haven’t really seen a lot of dudes play really well against him. To see Josh, one of our best leaders, he’s having a great year.

“For him to play big-time football today against a really good tackle, that was real cool to see. That was a matchup I was really locked on [watching]. Josh did his thing today.”

Will Allen catch Brackens?

There are few things NFL head coaches admire more than players with a high motor that never stops running.

While Lawrence had the second-best day of his career in terms of passing numbers (364 yards), he also had the comfort of being well-protected and not scrambling all over the place to find his receivers like Stroud.

For Allen, having to try to stop the Texans’ run game — Devin Singletary and Dameon Pierce combined for just 32 yards on 11 carries – and get through Tunsil to chase down Stroud made for an exhausting day.

“The defensive line had to continue to fight through the whistle and same with the defensive backs,” said Jaguars’ coach Doug Pederson. “C.J. [Stroud], he can extend plays. We saw it today, and his eyes are always down the field. He’s always looking for the big play. For our D-line to run all over the field sometimes it felt like to make plays, it’s just a credit to them and just the ‘no-quit’ mentality.”

Allen, now up to 39.5 career sacks after surpassing Yannick Ngakoue for second place on the Jaguars’ list, needs another 16 sacks to catch team all-time leader Tony Brackens.

Those numbers aren’t foremost on Allen’s mind, but he’s plenty mindful of his place in Jaguars’ pass-rushing lore.

“For me, man, I want to leave a legacy everywhere that I go,” said Allen. “Just to be able to accomplish a feat like that is huge. I played to be top two [in sacks], but not two.”

Still, for Josh Allen to have a chance to become the Jaguars’ all-time sack leader, the team is going to have to sign him to a fat contract extension that will likely exceed $100 million.

After seeing what he did to C.J. Stroud, and knowing the Jaguars may well be chasing him for another decade, do they really want to have Josh Allen suiting up for somebody else next year?

Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Sack Man — Josh Allen hunting down Texans’ QB Stroud makes difference for Jaguars