Houston Texans (1-4) @ Jacksonville Jaguars (4-1)
Sunday, October 18, 9:30 AM ET (London game)
Set your alarms for another early game on Sunday morning with the Jacksonville Jaguars playing back-to-back games in front of the London faithful.
The Jags got an impressive and clutch win on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles after Ameer Abdullah returned a kickoff 53 yards to set up a 57-yard game-winning kick by Cam Little. It wasn’t the Jaguars’ most dynamic performance offensively, but they’ve proven themselves to be one of the best teams in the league so far this season.
Even with the Texans coming into this game at 1-4, this is going to be a great test for the Jaguars. They have an obvious advantage of already spending a ton of time in London, but the Texans got their first taste of victory this season, and they realize they are in must-win mode for pretty much the remainder of the season.
The Texans want to become the second team in history (1992 Chargers) to start 0-4 and still find a way to make the playoffs. Getting that first win against the Titans on Sunday was a big step in the right direction, but they’re going to need that defense to step up against a Jacksonville passing attack that seemingly has an endless arsenal of weapons.
There is a lot of pressure on CJ Stroud right now. The Texans have pretty much no running game to speak of. They just traded for Marvin Harrison Jr., and my guess is they’re going to waste no time trying to rekindle the relationship he once had with Stroud at Ohio State.
Even as a 1-4 team, the Texans are getting a ton of respect for what they are capable of, as the Jaguars are just 3-point favorites in London this week. We’re going to take a little bit of a risk here and take the Texans in a close one. Maybe Harrison even makes a big play in his first game as a Texan.
Prediction: Texans win 23-19
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