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Jacksonville Jaguars (1-3) at Houston Texans (0-4)
NFL Football: Sunday, October 11, 2020 at 1:00 pm (NRG Stadium)
The Line: Houston Texans -6.5 -- Over/Under: 50.5 Click to Get Latest Betting Odds
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The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans meet in a week 5 AFC South division matchup in NFL action from NRG Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Jacksonville Jaguars will be out to snap a three-game losing skid after a 33-25 loss to Cincinnati last time out, falling to 1-3 on the year in the process. Gardner Minshew II has thrown for 1,138 yards, 6 touchdowns and 4 interceptions on 72.1% passing while James Robinson leads the Jags on the ground with 285 rushing yards and 3 scores. D.J. Chark Jr. leads the Jaguars in receiving with 204 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns on 15 catches in his 16 targets while Keelan Cole has a team-high 19 grabs for 194 yards and 2 TD. Laviska Shenault Jr., Robinson and Chris Conley all have 100+ receiving yards for Jacksonville this season. Defensively, Myles Jack has 37 total tackles and Josh Jones has 36 total tackles with both Jack & Jones recording a team-high 23 solo tackles. Joe Schobert has 33 total tackles with 20 solo tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss while Josh Allen has a pair of sacks for Jacksonville.
The Houston Texans will still be on the hunt for their first win of the season, falling to 0-4 with a 31-23 loss to the Minnesota Vikings that resulted in the firing of head coach Bill O’Brien on Monday. Deshaun Watson has thrown for 1,092 yards, 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions on 65.6% passing while David Johnson leads Houston in rushing with 197 rushing yards and a pair of scores. Will Fuller V leads Houston with 18 catches on 22 targets for 274 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns while Randall Cobb has 13 catches for 213 yards. Jordan Akins, Brandin Cooks and the aforementioned Johnson each have 100+ receiving yards for Houston this season. Defensively, Zach Cunningham leads Houston with 43 total tackles, including 31 solo tackles while Benardrick McKinney has 38 total tackles. J.J. Watt, Charles Omenihu and Whitney Mercilus each have a pair of sacks for the Texans this year as well.
Jacksonville is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games overall and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a losing record while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 games within the division. Houston is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games within the division and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall. Jacksonville is 6-2-1 ATS in the last 9 meetings between these two teams in Houston.
I forgave the Texans through their first three games because of their tough schedule, but the bottom line is that the loss to the Vikings is hard to stomach, and now even with Bill O’Brien gone, there’s not much looking forward to the future for Romeo Crennel in the interim and the future of this Texans franchise at least after this season. Say what you want about Jacksonville, but at least the Jaguars have managed to bag a pair of covers this season, two more than what Houston brings to the table coming into this one. I’m not laying points with Houston simply because they’re due for a good performance. I’ll take Jacksonville and the points in this one.
Chris’s Pick Jacksonville +6.5
AUTHOR: Chris Ruffolo
