It’s a battle between the two teams in the cellar of AFC South as the Houston Texans make their way to EverBank Field to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Texans continue juggling between Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett at quarterback, while the Jaguars are seeing some big performances from second-year signal caller Blake Bortles. Which quarterback gets his team going in this divisional clash?
Line: Houston Texans (-1) at Jacksonville Jaguars (+1); total: 43.0 – view all NFL lines
TV Broadcast: CBS
Betting on the Houston Texans (1-3, 0-1 AFC South)
Ryan Mallett wasn’t getting much going for the Houston Texans. He completed 7 of 10 passes for 50 yards and an interception before getting the wind knocked out of him after a late hit in the second quarter. Brian Hoyer relieved him, and the coaching staff never looked back after the he led two scoring drives immediately after taking over in the second quarter.
[sc:NFL240banner ]Hoyer finished the game 24 of 31 for 312 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. One of his touchdowns came in the final play of the first half, a Hail Mary pass caught by rookie Jaelen Strong in the red zone amidst a sea of five Colts defenders. Strong caught another scoring touchdown in the third quarter, an 11-yarder. They were his only receptions for the game.
Strong is up for another big game against Jacksonville’s wide-open passing defense. The Jaguars are allowing about 260 yards passing per game this season. Another receiver who could have some monster gains is DeAndre Hopkins. As one of Hoyer’s deep threat receivers, Hopkins led the Texans with 169 yards on 11 catches against the Colts.
Even Arian Foster had a good game receiving. He finished with 77 yards on nine receptions as he failed to get going on the ground with just 41 yards on nine carries. Foster had a pretty solid game at Jacksonville last year, rushing for 127 yards and a score on 24 carries.
Another Texan who could explode in this game is defensive end J.J. Watt. Houston’s star defender was unstoppable against the Jaguars last season, totalling six sacks and a forced fumble in two matchups. But he was shutout last week against the Colts. Regularly double teamed, Watt was held without a sack Thursday night.
The Texans are 3-1 SU/ATS in their last four trips to Jacksonville.
Betting on the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-3, 0-1 AFC South)
Blake Bortles may be over his hump of throwing more interceptions as he does touchdowns last season; he threw for 11 touchdowns and 17 interceptions in 2014. Bortles could still do some work with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions this season. Though, he did show promise in throwing four touchdowns and just one pick in a 38-31 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Bortles finished the game 23 of 33 for 303 yards. He had touchdown passes of 12 yards to Allen Hurns, 13 and five yards to Allen Robinson and a five-yarder to running back T.J. Yeldon. Hurns led the team with 116 yards on five catches, while Robinson had 72 yards on seven receptions.
The young receiving duo should be able to put up some points against the Texans’ defense, which has allowed the sixth-most passing touchdowns this season (nine).But the Jaguars could get a lot off their running game featuring Yeldon granted they don’t fall behind early. The Texans have allowed 114.2 yards rushing per game as well as the second-most rushing touchdowns this season.
The Jaguars have a pretty decent pass rush, ranking 12th in the league with 11 sacks. Ryan Davis (2.5 sacks), Aaron Colvin (two) and Roy Miller (two) lead the team as the only players with more than one sack this season. But their pass rush seemingly hasn’t made a difference to their defense, allowing 260 yards passing per game, 21st in the league.
Jacksonville is 3-4 SU/ ATS in its last seven games at EverBank Field.
Writer’s Prediction
The Jaguars outgun the Texans at home for a tight victory. Create a betting account now and cash in on the exciting divisional matchups to come.
