Jaylin Noel had the biggest receiving day of his NFL career at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, October 18, catching four passes for 107 yards and a touchdown as the Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-31 on Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 49-yard field goal at the final whistle.
The yardage beat his previous best, and the score made it the first time in his career that he has found the end zone in back-to-back games. For a Texans team that opened 0-4 and has now won twice in a row, Noel’s emergence gives C.J. Stroud another option in a receiver room that also welcomed Marvin Harrison Jr. on Sunday.
Two plays that turned the half and the game
Noel’s afternoon swung on one sequence just before halftime. Jacksonville had gone ahead 14-10 with 55 seconds left. Noel returned the kickoff 36 yards, then caught a 50-yard pass on the next snaps, 86 all-purpose yards on one possession. No NFL player has piled up more on one drive this season. Foster Moreau’s 1-yard touchdown with eight seconds left sent Houston into the break ahead 17-14.
He added the touchdown himself with 9:21 left in the third quarter, a 13-yard throw from Stroud that stretched the lead to 24-14. He finished with 174 all-purpose yards.
In the locker room afterward, Noel walked through both plays without taking much credit. On the long catch he said he only had to go and meet the ball because Stroud put it exactly where it needed to be, and he had heard his quarterback absorbed a heavy hit on the throw. The touchdown, he said, was a design by offensive coordinator Nick Caley that he trusted the moment he saw the coverage. “I knew if we get shelled that I’d be the winner on that route,” Noel said.
Noel also described the huddle after Stroud’s interception in the end zone, which let Jacksonville tie the game at 31. According to Noel, his quarterback told the offense it would get another chance and go score, and Houston did, moving into range for Fairbairn in the final two minutes.
Jay Noel for sixxxx! pic.twitter.com/0tr7b4xt6A
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 18, 2026
What the day means for Noel
Noel framed the career high as a starting point. “Can’t be content here and just want to continue to grow and help the team win,” he said, adding that he wanted to thank the support staff who made the trip to London work.
LONDON — #Texans receiver Jaylin Noel @NoelJaylin13 on his big game and C.J. Stroud in win over #Jaguars
https://t.co/jOTQrbwZQO— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) October 18, 2026
Stroud spread the ball around all day, completing 24 of 34 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns, with 10 different players catching at least one ball. Moreau caught two of the scores; Noel had the other. Nico Collins added three catches for 74 yards, and Harrison caught three passes for 34 yards in his first game for Houston.
Noel’s profile, career numbers and recent games are on his WhyNFL player page, and the full game story is in our Texans-Jaguars recap.
What comes next
The 2-4 Texans fly home to host the New York Giants at NRG Stadium on Sunday, October 25, at 1:00 p.m. EDT, their last game before the Week 8 bye. Visit the Texans team page for the schedule.
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