The Houston Texans were this close to forcing Jaguars to OT

In what may go down as the most entertaining game of Week 12 of the 2023 NFL season, the Houston Texans hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars in a battle for AFC South supremacy.

And the Texans came painfully close to forcing overtime, only to lose in dramatic fashion.

C.J. Stroud and the Houston offense took over with just over three minutes in the game, trailing 24-21. But the rookie quarterback soon got the Texans into Jacksonville territory, managing to turn what looked like an impossible 2nd-and-25 situation into a first down.

Perhaps Stroud and the Houston offense watched a bit of the Iron Bowl last night.

But their drive eventually stalled, and the Texans called on kicker Matt Ammendola to try and force overtime with a 58-yard field goal try.

His kick came up just inches short:

Here is another angle of the doink:

If you watch the Houston fans after his play, you might notice that few — if any — seem sad. Why? Because they probably feel that the team, with Stroud at the helm, is a bit ahead of schedule.

And with good reason.

Stroud at the moment seems like a potential franchise quarterback, and while the loss dropped the Texans out of playoff position at the moment, think about how far the Texans have come already. Chances are if you would have asked those fans back in August what their expectations were for this season, a playoff run was likely the farthest thing from their minds.

But a playoff push is exactly what the Texans are putting together.

Even in the wake of this brutal doink.