Will the Texans finally get their act together?
Lady Luck hasn't been favoring the Houston Texans as of late. Suffering another defeat last Sunday at the hands of the Tennessee Titans, the Texans have now lost four out of their last six games. They presently hold a 7-5 record, which is something they surely didn't envision weeks ago.
At one point during the season, Houston was 5-1 and looked like a top contender for the AFC crown. That's when the landslide began. Plagued by offensive struggles, the Texans somehow lost the groove that they boasted early on. C.J. Stroud's hike in interceptions — which has been talked about a lot — isn't the only major concern. The Texans seem to have trouble keeping their poise during second halves.
To be fair, a depleted receiver corps and sub-par pass protection can be attributed to all this. Still, overcoming shortcomings is a must for teams that are expected to contend in the playoffs. The Texans have a good shot at securing the AFC South, but their current level of play will be far from sufficient in any kind of postseason scenario. There are six games left for a turnaround and a win this weekend would be a good start.
Awaiting them at the EverBank Stadium on Sunday are the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9), whose star QB — Trevor Lawrence — is listed as questionable due to a shoulder injury. On paper, this is an expected win for the Texans. So without further delay, here are Week 13 bold predictions for the visiting team.
A bounce-back game for C.J. Stroud
For more context on C.J. Stroud's aforementioned interceptions, he's thrown more of them (5) than touchdown passes (4) through the Texans' last four games. What's even more concerning is how he's already been picked off nine times this season. Compare that to how it only happened five times during his Rookie of the Year campaign.
Nevertheless, getting reps in against the Jaguars gives Stroud a good opportunity to regain his footing. How so? Well, Jacksonville currently holds the NFL's worst pass defense; They allow an average of 278.3 passing yards per game. One big contributor is their pass rush, or lack thereof. With a league-worst 28% pass rush win rate (per ESPN), many in the Jaguars' defensive front seem to have trouble getting by opposing blockers. So far, they only have 21 sacks — fourth lowest among all teams. Besides their outside duo of Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen, no one else has eye-catching sack numbers.
Still, the Texans' O-line hasn't been perfect either. Stroud is the second-most sacked QB in the entire league. And on Sunday, Walker and Hines-Allen will be the line's biggest adversary. For Stroud to put on that resurgent performance, tackles Tytus Allen and Laremy Tunsil have to ensure that the defensive ends won't get their way in the trenches.
It does help how the Jaguars' secondary has been struggling lately. During Jacksonville's historic loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 11, the Jaguars gave up a total of 449 receiving yards on 16.6 yards per throw, in addition to four touchdowns in the air. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams combined for 285 of those yards on just 15 catches. Go back two weeks earlier and the stats show how the Jaguars allowed the Philadelphia Eagles to put up 230 receiving yards with five different pass-catchers tallying no less than 30 yards each.
In other words, Nico Collins, Tank Dell and Dalton Schultz are all favored in their respective matchups on Sunday. That, in turn, makes a C.J. Stroud bounce-back game even more believable.
Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. combine for at least two sacks
Houston's defensive front is led by their edge rushers, namely, Danielle Hunter (10.5 sacks) and Will Anderson Jr. (9.5 sacks). Both rank among the top five in total sacks this season. Additionally, they've already combined for 28 tackles for loss, and are collectively a major reason why the Texans boast one of the league's best defenses.
On Sunday, they'll be looking to take down either Trevor Lawrence or Mac Jones. As mentioned earlier, Lawrence is listed as questionable but is expected to return after missing the past two games. If he's suddenly ruled out, then the ex-Patriot will once again take the field. Either way, whoever throws behind center will likely get a dose of the Texans' outside rushers.
Objectively, it won't be easy since Jacksonville's O-line is quite a reliable unit. Lawrence has only been sacked 18 times, and both Hunter and Anderson Jr. were sackless when the Texans and Jaguars met earlier this season.
But besides the fact that they have something to prove against the Jaguars, the Texans' edge rushers have taken it up a notch recently. Last weekend, Hunter had three sacks while Anderson Jr. added two of his own. Back in the Week 11 win over the Dallas Cowboys, Hunter took down Cooper Rush twice. Houston put up five sacks that game and it's not hard to deduce that the tally would've been higher had Anderson Jr. not been sidelined with an ankle injury.
Expect both players to perform better against Jacksonville this time around.
