The Jacksonville Jaguars open AFC South play Sunday at Wembley Stadium against the one division rival that has given Trevor Lawrence the most trouble. Liam Coen didn’t dress it up after Wednesday’s practice in Watford. “We know every time you line up against this team it’s going to be a fight. It’s going to be a brawl,” Coen said, according to the team’s website.
A win would push the 1-4 Texans four games back heading into the bye. For fans back home, that’s a 9:30 a.m. kickoff with the coffee still brewing. Three Jaguars can make the morning. Three Texans can ruin it.
Make players for the Jaguars vs. the Texans
QB Trevor Lawrence
Lawrence brings the most accurate start of his career to London. He has completed 67.1% of his passes for 1,174 yards with 10 touchdown passes and three interceptions, and his 8.1% off-target rate is the lowest in the NFL, according to ESPN’s Michael DiRocco.
Houston is where that accuracy has to hold. Lawrence has thrown 11 interceptions and eight touchdown passes against the Texans, per DiRocco, and he was sacked five times in last November’s 36-29 loss in Houston. London has treated him far better. He has thrown a touchdown pass in every start overseas, according to News4JAX, and he threw for 331 yards against the Eagles last week.
WR Parker Washington
Washington leads the Jaguars with 22 catches, 352 yards and four touchdowns. He caught six passes for 124 yards and both touchdown passes in the win over Philadelphia, including the 27-yarder on fourth-and-5 that gave Jacksonville its first second-half lead.
Houston has noticed. DeMeco Ryans named Washington as a player who demands his defense’s attention, according to the Texans’ website, after Washington scored twice in last season’s meeting at Reliant Stadium. He’s doing all of it with his extension still unresolved.
DE Josh Hines-Allen
Hines-Allen has 1.5 sacks through five games, but defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile sees a bigger picture. Hines-Allen has a team-high seven pressures and is dropping into coverage enough to wreck route concepts. “He’s not just a put-his-hand-in-the-ground rush guy,” Campanile said Thursday, per the team’s website. “He does a ton of jobs for us.”
Sunday calls for the rush. Stroud hasn’t thrown an interception all season, and the Jaguars rank 30th in the league with 266.2 passing yards allowed per game. Campanile now lines Hines-Allen up on the same side as Travon Walker, according to Texans analyst John Harris. Getting Stroud off his spot is the best protection for a banged-up secondary.
Break players for the Texans
Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
DE Will Anderson Jr.
Anderson leads the NFL with 7.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss, and his 92.1 overall grade ranks first among 106 edge defenders, according to PFF. All three of his sacks last week at Tennessee came in the fourth quarter, according to the Texans.
He draws Walker Little at left tackle after Anton Harrison landed on injured reserve. Little has 31 career starts at left tackle, and Lawrence backed him this week. “I trust him. I don’t have any hesitations about him,” Lawrence said, per the team’s website. If Anderson and Danielle Hunter, who has three sacks, own the edges, Jacksonville’s quick game becomes the whole plan.
WR Nico Collins
Collins has topped 100 receiving yards in five straight games against Jacksonville, the longest active streak in the NFL against a single opponent, according to the Texans. He has 19 catches for 249 yards and three touchdowns in three games this season.
Campanile knows Collins from Michigan, where he was on the staff during Collins’ college career. “He can run down the field. He can go make plays on nines and eights down the field,” Campanile said, per Jaguars On SI. Much of that job could fall to Travis Hunter, who played every defensive snap at cornerback against Cincinnati two weeks ago.
QB C.J. Stroud
Stroud has thrown 185 passes without an interception, completing 64.3% for 1,402 yards and six touchdown passes. Campanile credited his tempo. “He’s really decisive back there, and he’s doing a great job getting the ball out quickly,” Campanile said, according to the team’s website.
Now he has a new weapon. Houston acquired Marvin Harrison Jr., Stroud’s former Ohio State teammate, from Arizona last weekend, and Ryans said Harrison will play Sunday, according to FOX 26 Houston. The Texans won’t define his role for a few weeks, but even a short package tests a thin cornerback room. Stroud has been sacked 14 times, so the Jaguars’ front has a window. If he stays clean, the Texans can leave London right back in the division race.
More on the Jacksonville Jaguars
- Parker Washington’s 85.4 PFF Grade Puts Derek Stingley Jr.’s Slow Start on Trial at Wembley
- Here’s What Should Scare the Jacksonville Jaguars About the Houston Texans
- Houston Texans Won’t Define Marvin Harrison Jr.’s Role for 3-4 Weeks
- Can Walker Little Slow Down Will Anderson Jr.? Answering 5 Questions Jaguars Fans Are Asking
