Houston Texans' Trip to Jacksonville Too Close To Call For Vegas

NFL News - November 30th, 2009 - Written by John

It would be hard to find two head coaches that are in more of a need of a win this week that the Houston Texans' Gary Kubiak and Jacksonville Jaguars' Jack Del Rio. Houston has continually faltered late in games, falling to 5-6 on the year, while the Jaguars are still a respectable 6-5, though with no quality wins in their past.

A win on Sunday would do well to stop one of those streaks in a game that has been deemed a pick 'em by BetUS. The over/under is 46 1/2, according to 2009 NFL Week 13 Betting Odds.

After a trip across the country, the Jacksonville Jaguars will be back home where they are 4-1 so far this year. While the road has been brutal, serving up losses to the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers by a combined score of 68-3, Jacksonville Municipal Stadium has been comforting, despite an attendance that decreases by the week. Jacksonville hasn't sold out a game yet, blacking out every home game so far this year. The problem is, that's when they are at their best.

The most recent instance came two weeks ago when David Garrard engineered a comeback win in the last two minutes to beat the Buffalo Bills, 27-24.

Maurice Jones-Drew has been held under 100 yards for two-straight weeks, however, and will hope to get it going against a swarming Houston defense.

Of all the problems that have engulfed the Texans this year, defense has not been one of them. Mario Williams and DeMeco Ryans continue to be Pro Bowl-caliber defenders, and Brian Cushing is looking more and more like a Defensive Rookie of the Year shoe-in by the day. He had an interception last week against Peyton Manning, which was his third this year, and he leads the team with 99 tackles.

But for whatever reason, Houston has buckled at the tail end of recent games, including a 35-27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts last week after leading 17-0 early on.

The week before that, Kris Brown missed a field goal that would have sent their game against the Tennessee Titans into overtime.

It's troublesome considering Matt Schaub is the eighth-rated passer in football with 3,242 yards and 21 touchdowns and the Texans' offense ranks in the top-10.

"We've been really, really good and then poor in some situations, so it's my job to find some consistency," Kubiak said during last week's post-game press conference.

Jacksonville has already beaten Houston on the road, however, 31-24, in a game in which Jones-Drew ran for 119 yards and three touchdowns, and Mike Sims-Walker broke out with 81 yards.

Jones-Drew is currently fifth in the NFL in rushing with 1,001 yards.