The battle of beleaguered quarterbacks takes center stage when the Houston Texans visit the Jacksonville Jaguars in a Week 10 AFC South battle. Houston’s Brock Osweiler has been the target of criticism after inking a huge deal in the offseason, but he’s in a better spot than Blake Bortles, who can’t do anything right as the Jags’ season continues to spiral down the drain. Both clubs have invested heavily in their signal callers, so we could be stuck with this matchup for a few years.
This matchup in Week 10 of the regular season will take place on Sunday, November 13, 2016, at 1 p.m. ET at EverBank Field.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Houston Texans -1.5
Jacksonville Jaguars +1.5
Over/Under 42
Odds Analysis
Something’s gotta give in this one. The Jags have yet to win a game in Jacksonville, going 0-3 SU and 1-2 ATS while the Texans are 0-3 SU and ATS in their three roadies. We could say Houston hasn’t reached elite status with losses to New England, Denver and Minnesota, but the Jags aren’t in that company. The visitors are getting plenty of action with 77 percent of the wagers on Houston. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a little hike in the spread prior to kickoff.
Injury Report
Vince Wilfork – Houston’s nose tackle sustained a groin injury in the last game and is still hobbled. Wilfork’s absence could be a boost to the Jags’ and their commitment to running the football. Wilfork is one of the premier run stuffers in the game and the Jags will try and stick it between the tackles with the big guy out.
Allen Hurns – The Jags leader in receiving yards entered the concussion protocol following Sunday’s loss, further hurting the team’s poor passing game. As Bortles works through his issues he needs reliable receivers on the other end of his throws. Hurns is that, but he could be out for Sunday’s game.
Key Stat
It’s hard to win football games when your team doesn’t have the same opportunities to score as the opposition. Turnovers are a game-changer in the NFL and the Jaguars are the worst at holding onto the rock. They played a decent game last week but were killed again by the turnover bug, coughing it up four times in a 19-14 loss to the Chiefs. The Jags have committed multiple turnovers in five of their eight games and have 10 giveaways in the past four outings. To make matters worse, they’ve failed to create a turnover in those four games for a minus-10 differential just in that span.
Overall the Jags are dead last in the NFL with a minus-12 differential. It’s easy to blame Bortles since he handles the ball on virtually every offensive snap and the criticism is warranted. Bortles has tossed 10 picks, third-most in the league, and has lost a pair of fumbles to account for 12 of the Jags’ 17 giveaways.
Free ATS Pick
Under their new offensive coordinator, the Jags were successful running the football against the Chiefs. Nathaniel Hackett is committed to improving the run game, which in turn should relieve some pressure off Bortles to make the offense work. The group had failed most of the year and Bortles has regressed in his development, which is shocking to folks in Jacksonville. Maybe the increased expectations were too much for him to handle. Only time will tell.
Even with a ground game that produced season-highs of 32 carries and 205 yards, the same mistakes kept popping up. Mainly the turnovers and dropped passes which led to only 14 points after the Jags amassed 457 yards of offense. I keep expecting the Jags to turn the corner, but at this point of the season, they are who they are. And that’s not a very good football team. The Texans haven’t won on the road this season, but their previous games were against the Pats, Vikings and Broncos, three pretty decent clubs. They catch a break with the Jags and should post a victory while covering the spread.
NFL Odds: Texans 24, Jaguars 20
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