Houston fans will have the coffee and breakfast tacos going early for an 8:30 a.m. Central kickoff, and the Texans will walk into Wembley Stadium as the team most experts are picking against. A 26-3 win over the Titans gave Houston a bump in the Week 6 power rankings, but it hasn’t changed many minds about this AFC South matchup.
Jacksonville is 4-1 and comes in favored by 2.5 points at Covers. Still, the national panels aren’t unanimous, and the dissenters keep coming back to the same thing: C.J. Stroud hasn’t thrown an interception in 185 attempts.
Sports Illustrated sees an upset spot
Texans, +3
Peter Dewey took the points with Houston, and he didn’t hedge much. “I can’t quit this Houston team,” Dewey wrote at Sports Illustrated’s betting desk. He added, “I’ll take the field goal with Houston in what could be an upset spot.”
It’s a fair read on a team that lost four games by a combined 25 points before it finally broke through in Nashville, where Will Anderson Jr. took over and the defense allowed 187 yards.
CBS Sports splits down the middle
Jordan Dajani: Texans 21, Jaguars 18. Jared Dubin: Jaguars 24, Texans 20
Dajani has the Texans winning outright. “I predict they keep that momentum going and score an upset victory across the pond,” he wrote in CBS Sports’ Week 6 picks.
Dubin went the other way, pointing to the travel. “I think it’s a real advantage that the Jaguars have already been in London for a week,” he wrote. That’s an edge several Jaguars pickers mention, since Jacksonville stayed overseas after beating the Eagles at Tottenham.
Bleacher Report leans Jacksonville, with two holdouts
Jaguars, 5-2 panel vote
Kris Knox and Moe Moton were the only two of seven Bleacher Report panelists to take Houston. Knox wasn’t sold on how the Jaguars got to 4-1. “I have a hard time trusting Jacksonville after last week’s miracle win against the short-handed Eagles,” he wrote.
Covers says the jump in class is too much
Jaguars moneyline
Neil Parker’s top play is Jacksonville to win, and he doesn’t like the setup for Houston. “This is a bad time for the Houston Texans to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in this AFC South clash across the pond,” Parker wrote at Covers’ game preview. He also argued that “the uptick in class is going to be too much for the Houston offense.”
That’s the core of the case against the Texans. Jacksonville has allowed 14 points per game, second-fewest in the league, and Houston’s offense has topped 30 points twice in five games. The flip side is Stroud, whose 11 big-time throws lead all quarterbacks, according to his PFF player page. That question hangs over the key matchups for the Texans and the things to know about Houston this week: can his protection hold up long enough to let him use it?
More on the Houston Texans
- Texans vs. Jaguars Score Prediction Has Houston Falling Just Short at Wembley
- Final Injury Report for Texans-Jaguars: Will David Montgomery, Tank Dell Play?
- 3 Reasons the Texans Will Beat the Jaguars, and 2 Reasons They Won’t
- Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars NFL Prediction, Picks & Odds for Week 6
