Texans Will Rebound Against Hapless Jaguars
Texans vs. Jaguars, 1:00 ET
Texans vs. Jaguars, 1:00 ET
I hope everyone has enjoyed this great long weekend, and we aren't all dreading heading back to the office (even if a lot of us work from home now) tomorrow. We still are treated to a nice weekend of football with the NFL still dominating the day. There are some tasty matchups for us to choose from today, and while this may not be the most exciting game of the season, it should be a good one. I've got a play in this game between the Texans and Jaguars.
The Texans have had a strange season to this point with a 7-5 record. To start the year, there was a ton of hype about how good they would be. The expectation was that they would win their division and their offense would take another step forward as CJ Stroud continued to develop. I can't say everything is going according to plan, but they are in decent shape to still capture some of those things. Houston has lost three of their past four games, and this coincides with them losing Stefon Diggs. Nico Collins was also out for part of that, but he has returned and should start making an impact now that he is getting more accustomed to game speed again. Last week, the Texans lost to the Titans at home which was a major surprise in their season. Joe Mixon should have a massive game against a Jaguars team that is the seventh-worst defense.

The Jaguars are having a terrible season with just a 2-9 record and having lost four straight games. They should be in line to get a top pick and hopefully address some concerns. I'm not quite sure that they are ready to move on from Trevor Lawrence, but it is possible. They had a bye week last week but prior to that they are coming off of an embarrassing loss to the Lions where they allowed 52 points and scored just six. Mac Jones was the quarterback for that game, but Lawrence should be back for this one. Will that make a huge difference? I'm not really sure. He's thrown just 11 touchdowns and six interceptions in nine games. Things haven't gone great for the Texans this year, but they are one of the better rushing defenses and one of the best past defenses in football.
Here is where this game stands - the Texans are better on offense and significantly better on defense. They are coming off of a loss where they were beaten by an inferior team. They are getting healthier. The Jaguars have nothing left to play for other than spoiling a bit of the Texans season. I'm not saying players won't have effort, but this is a situation where the only thing Jacksonville has going for them is that they are the home team. I think the Texans cover the -5 spread. You can probably get a better number once Lawrence is officially ruled in.
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