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5 momentous plays in Week 6: 2 killer Jags penalties proved costly in loss to Texans

In Week 5, the Jacksonville Jaguars were beneficiaries — and took advantage — of the Philadelphia Eagles' catastrophic late mistakes at Tottenham Hotspur.

On Sunday, on the other side of London, their luck changed with one bad-luck penalty … but they had no one to blame but themselves on another critical flag.

Fumbles were also at the forefront of Sunday's big momentum swings around the rest of the NFL, with three significant ones highlighted on our list.

Here were five plays that shifted Uncle Mo in considerable ways.

1. Phantom hold, 12-men penalties kill Jaguars' momentum 

Two big plays loomed large in the Jaguars' 34-31 loss to the Texans in London. The first one was bad luck. The second was their own terrible mistake.

After the Texans took an early 7-0 lead on their second possession, the Jaguars marched right back down the field and appeared to level the game with a Bhayshul Tuten TD run. But the play was called back to a questionable flag against Jacksonville's Brenton Strange. In what world is this holding?

The fact that they couldn't come away with points on the drive made the poor call even more painful. Two plays later, Trevor Lawrence threw an end-zone interception to the Texans' Calen Bullock. Tuten later tied it midway through the second quarter, but that could have given the Jaguars a lead.

The bad call was bad luck. But several self-inflicted mistakes, including dropped passes, hurt the Jaguars further. One penalty was a real back breaker.

The Jaguars stopped the Texans, appearing to hold them to a three-and-out on Houston's first possession of the third quarter, with the Texans nursing a 17-14 lead. But on the punt, the Jags were flagged with having 12 men on the field, with Travis Hunter failing to get off the field in time.

It was an awful penalty, arguably their least excusable of the season. The Texans didn't mess around, marching all the way down for a touchdown.

Hunter had arguably his best NFL game, becoming just the third player since the NFL-AFL merger to catch a TD pass and intercept a pass in the same game. But his failure to get off the field on that third-quarter punt ended up being a huge momentum swing against his team. 

Look at the stats from this game — basically dead even in many categories. This contest came down to a few unfortunate plays that went against the Jaguars, and they had control of one of them. 

2. Henry's fumble was bigger than FG miss

Ravens kicker Tyler Loop missed a 49-yard field-goal at the start of the fourth quarter in a 10-10 game, a big missed opportunity in what would end up a 13-10 Browns victory. However, the arguably more significant play came one series and a few game minutes later.

After the missed kick, the Ravens forced a quick three-and-out and got the ball back. After a Cleveland penalty, Derrick Henry appeared to be rumbling his way toward a first down on a first-and-5 run, but Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger slashed into the fray and ripped the ball from Henry, which was recovered by the Browns' Tyson Campbell at the Baltimore 35-yard line.

A subsequent pass-interference call on the Ravens' Keyon Martin helped set up Audric Estime's tying touchdown and Cleveland's only TD of the game. The Ravens' offense had largely disappeared after the first quarter, and the Browns heated up just enough offensively to mount a final field-goal drive for the win.

Henry ran for 11 and 17 yards, respectively, on his first two carries of the game but was held to only 30 yards on his next 15 rushes. The fumble, however, was his biggest mistake, helping cost the Ravens a game they controlled by two scores.

"I told the team: 'Put this one on me,'" Henry said.

3. Kickoff strip fueled a 34-0 Saints run

The Saints found themselves in a 10-zip hole late in the second quarter against the Giants. Kicker Daniel Carlson's 58-yard bomb got them on the board with 1:09 left until halftime, but the Saints were not done scoring in the second quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Saints' Isaiah Stalbird brilliantly forced a fumble on Giants returner Charlie Jones, which was recovered by Saints rookie Oscar Delp at New York’s 28-yard line. 

Tyler Shough then ripped off a 25-yard run to get New Orleans inside the 5-yard line, and Shough hit rookie Bryce Lance for a touchdown with one second left to tie it 10-10 at halftime.

That, and a 31-yard touchdown reception by Alvin Kamara to open the third quarter, comprised half of a 34-0 run by the Saints, flipping a 10-point deficit into a 24-point lead. And they'd need almost every one of those points, too, as J.J. McCarthy – replacing a benched Jameis Winston – led a furious Giants comeback that came up just short.

The Saints probably don't win without that massive swing before halftime. 

4. Simmons' timely rip helps Titans win first

The Colts led 13-0 at halftime, unimpressively keeping the Titans at arm's distance while Tennessee's offense was stuck with the emergency brake still on. All signs pointed to an ugly Colts win, but they started giving the game away right after halftime. 

On the Colts' first play from scrimmage, the Titans' Jeffery Simmons ripped the ball out from Jonathan Taylor, and the Titans recovered in business. It was just the jolt they needed. 

The Titans used that gift to start chipping away at the deficit. They turned the recovery into a field goal and went on to outscore the Colts, 26-7, from that point on. 

Cam Ward, who looked like he might be in danger of being benched at halftime, led five scoring drives in five second-half possessions, and the Titans returned a blocked punt for another touchdown.

The timing was tremendous for Ward and head coach Robert Saleh, who were both catching a lot of heat during the Titans' 0-5 start to the season. This win won't cool things off completely, but it was a much-needed victory. It all started with Simmons' game-changing forced fumble.

5. Cousins bombed away, but interception was a killer

The Raiders might have outscored the Bills in the first and fourth quarters, but the Bills won the middle portion of the game — and that's ultimately where Buffalo's 33-30 win was decided.

Tied at 13-all at the half, the Bills took the ball downfield quickly on their opening drive of the third quarter and appeared to score a TD, but it was wiped out by penalty. They settled for a field goal and a 16-13 lead that felt vastly different than a 20-13 advantage.

The Raiders played aggressively and looked very evenly matched at times with the Bills, but they were too aggressive on the ensuing drive after the field goal.

Kirk Cousins — who largely played very well — forced a pass into bracket coverage, and it was intercepted by the Bills' Dorian Williams. Cousins might have been fooled on the play, thinking Williams would continue following Brock Bowers, but Williams stayed inside on Michael Mayer, who was Cousins' target on the play.

Either way, the spacing on the routes felt crowded. You can't really blame the loss on Cousins. Without him, it's likely the Raiders can't keep pace with the Bills, even if they played a B or B- game on offense and were not lights-out good. It just happened to be an aggressive mistake by Cousins at a critical time while being fairly backed up on their own end of the field.

The Bills took advantage, even if the Raiders looked like they might hold them twice. Instead, a penalty gave them a first down after an incomplete pass, and Josh Allen made a circus TD pass to Keon Coleman.

The Raiders had a small margin for error, and Cousins' pick stung a little too deeply.

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