Jaguars vs. Texans Prediction
Can the Houston Texans take care of business at home when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars today at 1PM ET?
According to the oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Texans are favored at home in this game, as they are getting odds of -5 points against the Jaguars. The over/under total for the contest is listed at 39.5 points. Houston has won five straight over Jacksonville, including a 24-21 win on the road back on Nov. 13. Houston is 4-1 against the spread in those five victories.
Houston is coming off a big 22-17 win at Indianapolis last week to improve to 7-6 on the season and remain tied atop the AFC South standings. The Texans covered the spread in the win, snapping a three-game losing streak in the process. Houston is now 6-6-1 against the spread in 2016. Houston is led by its defense, as it is giving up just 21.1 points and 329.9 yards per game on the year. Their pass defense is holding opponents to only 224.2 passing yards per game. The defense has some concerning injuries as Jadeveon Clowney (elbow) and Brian Cushing (back) are both listed as questionable. Offensively, Houston is struggling, putting up only 17.6 points and 330.4 yards per game. Lamar Miller has run for 1,010 yards and four touchdowns to lead the offense while Brock Osweiler has 2,656 passing yards with 14 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
Jacksonville is on an 8-game losing streak following a 25-16 loss to the Vikings at home last weekend. The Jags are 5-8 against the spread this season, failing to cover in four of their last five games. The Jags are giving up 26 points per game on defense despite allowing just 326.7 yards per game. Their pass defense has allowed only 213.5 passing yards per game. The team may be without their captain in Paul Posluszny, who is questionable with a neck injury. He has 107 tackles with 1.5 sacks this season. Offensively, Jacksonville is putting up just 18.5 points and 345 yards per game. The run game has been a mess, averaging under 100 yards per game. Chris Ivory has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury and is questionable to play today as well. Blake Bortles has thrown for 3,187 yards and 21 touchdowns, but also has 15 interceptions.
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Houston isn’t a team you can trust much, but you have to like them at home against a Jacksonville team that can’t seem to do much right. The Jags aren’t winning and they aren’t covering. Houston is 4-1 against the spread at home this season and given what is at stake for them, look for a motivated effort against a bad Jags team.
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