Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Houston Texans Week 1 Predictions: Against the Spread, Total, and Props
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Houston Texans Week 1 Predictions: Against the Spread, Total, and Props
After finishing 2020 last in the NFL with a 1-15 record, the only direction is up for the Jacksonville Jaguars. They will take on their AFC South opponents the Houston Texans, Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season. Two teams that will look plenty different in 2021 in their own ways.
The Jaguars and Texans each will start with new Head Coaches and new starting Quarterbacks. The Texans are home underdogs in this one priced by oddsmakers at (+155) to win this game. It is a new era for the Jaguars while it might be the end of one for the Texans. Let's break down this AFC South rivalry.
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Jacksonville Jaguars Preview
For those who follow college and professional football you probably have heard the name, Trevor Lawrence. Since Andrew Luck in 2012, there hasn't been a more highly coveted quarterback to enter the NFL until now. After finishing 2020 with the worse record in the NFL the Jaguars selecting Lawrence with the first-overall pick in the 2021 draft. With this selection comes optimism, excitement, and hope for the Jaguars in 2021 and the near future.
Lawrence will come into his first NFL start as a road favorite by oddsmakers, favored by 3 points (-3, -105). The Jags also made moe major changes to its franchise this offseason bringing in new head coach and college football legend Urban Meyer who is getting his first taste of the NFL. So the major issue the Jaguars will face this season may just be experience with a new coach and a rookie quarterback.Â
Lawrence has a highly skilled wide receiver group composed of DJ Chark, Marvin Jones, and Laviska Shenault Jr. The Jaguars should have a decent run game as well. Running back James Robinson enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2020 and he must now prove that he isn’t a one-hit-wonder. The Jaguars season-long outlook may not be so optimistic but the future sure looks bright as they put the pieces together.
Houston Texans Preview
This offseason was packed with drama and it's always surrounded by the quarterback position. We call it the QB-Carousel every offseason as it is the most important player on the field but so many teams make changes to who is at the position every year. The Texans went from having one of the NFL's brightest young stars at the quarterback position to not having a quarterback at all because of off-the-field issues. I'll cut to the chase and say we know Deshaun Watson will not be playing this game and the Texans will turn to veteran journeyman Tyrod Taylor. The Texans also hired a new head coach David Culley. There are so many new faces in Houston this season it will be difficult to see them win many games.
Tyrod Taylor has now bounced around the league the last few seasons and has lost the starting QB job where he was to rookies. He's not a bad player as he has shown in the games he has started in. Due to some bad injury luck and a catastrophic mistake by someone on the Chargers medical staff, Taylor lost the starting job to Justin Herbert just a season ago. The Texans franchise has been arguably the most mismanaged franchise in all of professional sports the last few years but bringing in Tyrod Taylor was one of the better free-agent moves this offseason.
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Houston Texans Prediction
The Texans secondary is awful and their run defense is non-existent. The Jaguars don't have many blue-chip players on defense either. For that reason, I think we see strong offensive outputs from these two sides. Lawrence will be special but that's not going to come before some growing pains. The Jaguars are going through a complete scheme change on defense so they are a complete wild card of how they will fair this season. The main issue for Houston is the abundance of new players on the roster paired with an atrocious defense. For that reason, I will go with the Jaguars running back James Robinson to score a touchdown anytime priced at (+100). I think the Jags lean on the run in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure off of Lawrence. It's difficult to back a rookie quarterback in his first NFL start even one as highly touted as Trevor Lawrence. Houston has added some veteran weapons on offense and I think catching a field goal for the home team here is the way to look for this one.
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