The Houston Texans are looking for their first win of the season, and odds-makers believe they can get one against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5.
The Texans are favored by -5.5 against the Jaguars in Houston’s first game of their AFC South slate. Houston is 0-4 on the season, and Jacksonville is 1-3, but odds-makers like the home team in the 12:00 p.m. CT bout at NRG Stadium Sunday.
According to BetMGM, the Texans’ -5.5 odds are the third-lowest of the week. Only the Cleveland Browns (-1.0) against the Indianapolis Colts and the Atlanta Falcons (-1.5) against the Carolina Panthers have lower odds than the Texans.
The Texans fired coach Bill O’Brien on Monday and promoted associate head coach Romeo Crennel to the interim role. Houston is hoping that a more relaxed atmosphere with O’Brien out of the way will open up the team to play with more fun.
The Jaguars need a win to avoid tanking for a better draft pick. Jacksonville got a big win against the Colts in Week 1, but are on a three-game losing streak. The Jaguars have a hidden gem in undrafted free agent running back James Robinson, and he could hurt Houston, who give up the most rushing yards in the NFL with 181.8.
Houston-Jacksonville’s 54.5 over/under is the third-highest point total of the week. Only Minnesota-Seattle (56.5) and Las Vegas-Kansas City (55.5) have higher point totals.
It is possible the Texans-Jaguars game could get that high. Houston has had two games with combined point totals of 54 (Week 1 at Kansas City, Week 4 versus Minnesota). Jacksonville has had two games go over the 54.5 threshold (Week 2 at Tennessee, Week 4 at Cincinnati).
For more information on the rest of the NFL and college football, please check out our sister site, the Sportsbook Wire.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.