Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston Texans
Sunday, November 9th, 1:00 PM ET
This could end up being a huge game that sways the AFC South one way or the other. In Week 9, the Jacksonville Jaguars went back and forth with the Las Vegas Raiders, and they were able to come out victorious.
Jacksonville is now 5-3 on the season and still in the AFC playoff picture. First-year head coach Liam Coen has done an awesome job with this franchise, but the one thing that I keep going back to is the overall ‘meh’ play of Trevor Lawrence.
At some point, we have to see more from Lawrence, but I am approaching an opinion where I don’t think we ever will. Lawrence has been just OK in his NFL career thus far and really isn’t anything more than an average QB at this point.
The Houston Texans likely come into this game without CJ Stroud, as I am not sure he’d be able to clear the NFL’s concussion protocol in time, but that’s not any sort of guarantee one way or the other. Stroud left the Texans’ loss early due to a hard hit from Denver Broncos’ CB Kris Abrams-Draine.
The hit was clean, but Stroud slid right as Abrams-Draine went for the take down. If CJ Stroud is not playing in this game, I think the Jaguars win, and I personally do not believe he will. Yes, the Texans’ defense has been insane this year, but Jacksonville is 5-3 for a reason.
The Jags’ defense is also quite good and should be able to capitalize on a couple of turnovers no matter who is under center. This could be another ugly game Houston finds itself in, and if Stroud is out, they’ll have to lean on that defense a lot more than usual.
Heck, Houston might need a defensive touchdown in order to win this game, but I just can’t really see a path for a Texans’ win without CJ Stroud, so for right now, we will predicft a close Jaguars’ victory as they improve to 6-3 on the season.
Houston would drop to 3-6 and see their season slip away even more. It’s been one of those years for Houston, unfortunately.