The Houston Texans head to EverBank Field to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. The game starts at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday and can be seen on CBS.
After winning both of their meetings last season, Jacksonville gets their first shot of the season against division rival Houston this week. Maurice Jones-Drew had a good outing on the ground the last time they met, totaling 103 yards on 14 attempts. Garrett Graham had a solid performance for Houston in that game, grabbing eight receptions for 73 yards and one TD. Andre Johnson had a big game as well, totaling 154 yards on 13 receptions.
The Texans take on the Jaguars as a four-point favorite this week. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is 42 points. Sitting at 2-10 Straight Up (SU) and 3-8-1 Against The Spread (ATS), the Jaguars will look to improve as they head into Week 14. In their five most recent matchups, the Jaguars went 1-4 SU and 1-3-1 ATS. Jacksonville is doing something right as of late. Over the last five games, they’ve been racking up 115.4 rushing yards per game, while they only average 98.2 for the season. Jacksonville usually finishes home games strong, averaging nine points in the fourth quarter.
As for their opponent, the Texans head into Week 14 with records of 7-5 ATS and 6-6 SU. The Texans went 3-2 both SU and ATS over the last five games. They come into the game averaging 23.9 points per game, but expect those numbers to rise. The Jaguars give up an average of 27.4 points, making them one of the worst defensive teams in the league. If earlier games are any indication, the Texans will pound the rock on offense. They average 134.1 rushing yards per game, good enough for fourth in the NFL. The Texans look to feast on Jacksonville’s subpar offense, which averages 15.5 points per game. Houston probably isn’t too worried about their opposition’s passing attack, which ranks 30th in home completion percentage with just 57.8%. The Jaguars can’t let the turnover-minded Texans take the ball away from them. The Texans defense sits atop the league in turnovers with 2.3 per game. The Texans will look to put the ball in the end zone against a Jacksonville defense that allows an average of 10.7 points in the second quarter, one of the worst marks in the league. Jacksonville tends to lose the time of possession battle during games, averaging a time of 28:32 for 29th in the league.
Predictions: SU Winner – HOU, ATS Winner – HOU, O/U – Under
Notes
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Houston’s last 7 games.
Jacksonville is 2-13 SU in its last 15 games.
Houston is 6-19 SU in its last 25 games.
Jacksonville is 1-3-1 ATS in its last 5 games.
Houston is 3-10 SU in its last 13 games on the road.
Jacksonville is 3-10-1 ATS in its last 14 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Houston’s last 6 games on the road.
Jacksonville is 4-18 SU in its last 22 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Houston’s last 6 games when playing Jacksonville.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Jacksonville’s last 6 games when playing Houston.
Houston is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Jacksonville.
Jacksonville is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Houston.
Houston is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Jacksonville.
Jacksonville is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Houston.
Houston is 5-0 SU when leading at the half this season. Jacksonville is 1-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Houston is 6-0 SU when leading at the start of the fourth quarter this season. Jacksonville is 1-1 SU when leading at the end of the third quarter.
This season, Houston is 5-2 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, and only 1-2 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
Jacksonville is 1-3 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, and winless (0-7 SU) when losing the turnover battle.
Houston is an even 2-2 SU this season when allowing at least 3 sacks in a game. The Jacksonville defense is currently averaging 3.1 sacks over the last five games.
The Jacksonville defense has forced an average of 2.0 turnovers per game this season, but Houston is 6-3 SU when turning the ball over at least 2 times in a game.
Dating back to last season, both teams are just 3-6 SU against AFC South opponents.
The Jacksonville passing attack is ranked 28th in the league, while the Houston pass defense is only ranked 30th. The Texans’ passing game is ranked 23rd, compared to the 24th-ranked pass defense of the Jaguars.
Houston is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its fourth-ranked rushing attack will face the 26th-ranked run defense of Jacksonville, while its 16th-ranked rush defense will look to contain the 23rd-ranked run game of the Jaguars.
Jacksonville has allowed 24.8 points per game at home this year, which is ranked only 26th in the league. Houston has scored 23.3 points per contest on the road (ranked ninth overall).
