Back
A heavyweight battle between two playoff teams from last season took place in Wembley Stadium as the Jacksonville Jaguars took on the Houston Texans in an AFC South divisional battle.
A back-and-forth affair saw both teams trade punches. But it wasn’t without controversy, as a disputed holding call against Brenton Strange wiped out a Bhayshul Tuten touchdown run early in the second quarter. Understandably, fans and media alike were incensed.
Despite an excellent 2025 season from Travis Etienne Jr., the Jaguars allowed him to leave in free agency amid salary-cap and positional-value considerations, opening the door for a much larger role for Tuten. The former fourth-round pick has responded well to the added responsibility, tallying 349 yards and 2 touchdowns through five games.
As a result, he’s ranked at number 15 onPFN’s Running Back Impact Metric. It looked like Tuten had added another score early in the second quarter when he ran into the end zone, but the play was erased by a holding penalty on Brenton Strange.
But the play was called back due to a holding call on Brenton Strange. However, on further replay, fans and the broadcasting crew believed that the effect might have been exaggerated by the Texans to further sell the call.
“Jaguars RB Bhayshul Tuten just lost a TD because the refs called Brenton Strange for holding on a play he didn’t hold,” Jordan Schultz wrote on X, alongside a clip of the run and the penalty in question.
JP Acosta was incensed.After first arguing, “That’s not a holding!” He jokingly added, “Give me the robot refs.”
Sports doctor Jeff Mueller, too, chimed in, writing, “Now a questionable holding call on Brenton Strange wipes out a Bhayshul Tuten touchdown. Defender did a good job to sell it.”
To make matters worse for the Jaguars, the Texans forced an interception of Trevor Lawrence just two plays later, on third down, wiping away any points altogether.
“This BLOCK was just called a HOLD and cost the Jaguars 7 points in a wildly important game,”one fan exclaimed. “Incompetency by the NFL refs is at an all-time high.”
For one fan, it was a problem across the league,as he argued, “The saddest thing about this is that while the refs are actively ruining the sport on every level, none of them are getting penalized for it lmao. a joke”
A Jaguars fan was understandably upset about the situation, adding, “The NFL had a serious officiating problem. The game should be tied up right now. Complete BS call”
It remains to be seen if that call ends up deciding the game altogether for the Jaguars. Heading into the halftime break, they trailed 17-14, but made up some ground with two receiving touchdowns by Tuten.
But with an important score wiped off the board in a critical divisional game that could carry playoff implications later in the season, the call could end up being a game-breaker for them.