The tremendous amount of momentum the Jacksonville Jaguars built in the latter half of September looked like it carried into the beginning of October when the team took an early 14-0 lead over the Philadelphia Eagles last week.
Then it all went south and the Eagles bulldozed and bullied the Jaguars for the majority of the next three quarters. After racking up 210 rushing yards, the Eagles managed to win, 29-21.
Trevor Lawrence was a turnover machine on a rainy day in the not-always-sunny Philadelphia and the undefeated Eagles took advantage of a Folorunso Fatukasi-less Jaguars defensive line that couldn’t stop the run.
While the Jaguars won’t have Fatukasi back in Week 5, they will have 335-pound former Falcons and Cardinals starter Corey Peters on the defensive line. And with much better weather on the forecast in the Sunshine State, it’d be surprising if Lawrence had difficulty hanging on to the ball Sunday like he did last week.
The Jaguars are more than talented enough to beat the Texans so long as they don’t turn the ball over the way they did a week ago, and don’t allow Houston to string together explosive plays with Brandin Cooks, Nico Collins, and Dameon Pierce.
This is the first time in several years that the real test for the Jaguars is winning a game they should win. I think Doug Pederson’s team has already shown that it has the focus to accomplish that.
Final score prediction: Jaguars 31, Texans 13