Week 14 – 2013 NFL – Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars

Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars +3 Total: 43

The cellar dwellers of not only the AFC South, but the conference as a whole face off on Thursday Night Football this week. After winning the division for the past two seasons, the Texans find themselves with a 2-10 record heading into this game. Jacksonville is just one game better at 3-9.

These two teams met on Nov. 24th and Jacksonville had the worst record in the league at the time with just one win but pulled out a 13-6 victory at Houston. The Texans were embarrassed with the loss to say the least. Wide receiver Andre Johnson called it, the “lowest point” of his NFL career.

Houston scored their highest point total of the season this past Sunday, but still managed to lose at New England despite having a lead for much of the first half to the Patriots, 34-31. The loss gave them a franchise-worst 10-game losing streak.

Ben Tate rushed for 102 yards and three touchdowns, both season-highs for a season game, but the rest of the offense stumbled. Rookie quarterback Case Keenum started off his NFL career with a bang but has come back down to earth over the past few games. He was 15 for 30 in last week’s game with an interception and no touchdowns.

The Jaguars improved to 3-10 last week with a win at 32-28 win at Cleveland on Sunday. The 32 points were by far their highest scoring output of the year. They had scored just 86 points in their first eight games – all losses – before scoring 88 in their last four games and winning three out of their last four.

Talking about how inept the Jaguars have been from an offensive standpoint is not fair to do at this point, because they have gotten it going the past few weeks. However, defensively, it has been rough. They rank in the bottom five of the league in scoring defense and yards allowed.

The Line

This game opened at Jax +2.5 but quickly moved to +3 across the board. The total opened at 43 and is at that number of 43.5.

The Play

There is not a worse primetime game this year than this one and find this game pretty unappetizing from a betting standpoint as well. Few bettors can be excited about this matchup even if they feel there is an edge in the line.

Jacksonville is eager to show they are not a fluke for next season while the Texans have looked for weeks like they have wanted the season to end. However, they did get up for last week’s game against the Patriots, despite the losing effort. I have no doubt that Houston has the better roster and if they play their game, they should easily win this contest. Jacksonville’s defense has been shredded against the run. If the Texans get up early they should be able to pound away and grind out a win.

Pick: Texans -3 available at Bovada.lv