Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars, EverBank Field, Jacksonville, FL
Sunday, November 14, 2010, 1:00 pm EDT, TV: CBS
Opening Line: Texans -1
Current Line: Jaguars -1
Opening Total: 50
Current Total: 49.5
Money Line: Jaguars -125 / Texans +105
The Houston Texans (4-4) will try to end a four-game skid against the spread and win straight-up for just the second time in five games while the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-4) look to pick up where they left off before their bye week when they meet on Sunday in an AFC South battle. The Jaguars (-1) swept two meetings with the Texans last season and crushed Dallas 35-17 on the road in their last game in Week 8 after losing their two previous games by a combined score of 72-23.
Jacksonville will definitely be motivated for this matchup with Houston since it is the team’s last divisional home game of the season. The Jags had mixed results in their first two divisional home games, pulling off a 31-28 upset of Indianapolis in Week 4 as a 7-point underdog before losing 30-3 to Tennessee on Monday Night Football two weeks later. This time, they will get the opportunity to face the NFL’s worst defense, which is surrendering nearly 400 yards per game, including almost 300 per game through the air.
Whether or not the Jaguars will take advantage of this situation offensively remains to be seen, as quarterback David Garrard has a little more than half the passing yards (1,098) as his Houston counterpart Matt Schaub (2,005). Garrard did enjoy his best game of the season though against the hapless Cowboys, completing 17 of 21 passes for 260 yards and a career-high four touchdowns while running for another score. He threw for 452 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in two meetings with the Texans last season, winning both times as an underdog.
Schaub struggled a bit in last week’s 29-23 home loss to San Diego, completing 21 of 32 passes for 266 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. His top target Andre Johnson was held to four catches for 41 yards while running back Arian Foster fueled the offense by rushing 27 times for 127 yards with two touchdowns and catching four passes for 70 more yards.
Foster leads the NFL in rushing with 864 yards but did not carry the ball once against Jacksonville last season. He will no doubt be a key player in deciding the outcome since Schaub has never beaten the Jaguars – going 0-4 – while throwing seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Jacksonville has allowed 119.1 rushing yards per game this season and 11 touchdowns, which ranks second-highest in the league.
The underdog is 8-3 against the spread in the last 11 meetings, and the OVER has cashed in four of the last six games between the teams. The OVER is also 4-1 in the last five games overall for the Jaguars and 6-2 in their games this year.
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