2024 NFL picks and score predictions for Week 13 games

Houston Texans (7-5) @ Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9)

Sunday, December 1, 1:00 PM ET

Well I just got done saying that there are no gimmes in the NFL but this is about as close as you’re going to get, isn’t it?

As of right now, we don’t know whether or not Trevor Lawrence is going to be playing for the Jaguars in this game. The safe assumption is that he won’t be playing, but you never know. And regardless of whether or not Lawrence plays, does it really matter?

The Jaguars have been the saddest of sadsacks in the league this season. They have been a “get right” game for most of the teams that have played them. And even coming off of their bye week, it is looking pretty darn good for the Houston Texans to be able to come into Jacksonville and get themselves a win.

The Texans suffered an ugly loss against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, a game in which they pretty much matched the Atlanta Falcons’ entire season total of sacks. Like, let’s seriously look at this for a second.

The Texans sacked Will Levis a whopping total of eight times. The Titans lost two fumbles. Levis threw a pick-six to Texans safety Jimmie Ward…And Houston still found a way to lose the game. The Texans have been rather fraudulent all year long and have won some games they could have easily lost, but I digress.

I suppose we shouldn’t call this a gimme game for the Texans and frankly, Vegas isn’t calling it a gimme by any means. They have the Texans as early 5.5-point favorites but with the way the Jaguars have played this year and uncertainty over Trevor Lawrence’s availability, that’s telling of what they think of Houston right now.

Prediction: Texans win 24-20