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Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars NFL Betting

Written September 24, 2008 by Jack Jones

Jacksonville hopes to build on their first win of the season this week when they play host to the winless Houston Texans on Sunday. The experts are thinking that Jacksonville can get back to .500 after their matchup with Houston as the odds makers at Sportsbook.com show the Jags as a 7.5 point favorite over the Texans with the total set at 42.

Last week the Jags sneaked by the Colts largely due to the efforts of Josh Scobee, who made all three of his field goal attempts, including a 51-yarder with four seconds left to give Jacksonville the 23-21 road win over Indianapolis. Head coach Jack Del Rio gave Scobee the game ball after that, and the kicker has now made two from beyond fifty yards in hitting 7-for-8 overall.

The rushing attack also was pretty dominant last week, with Fred Taylor rushing for 121 yards on 26 carries and Maurice Jones-Drew adding 107 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. The resurgence of the ground game was a welcome surprise to a team that has seen their offensive line hit hard by injuries. The last couple of years this was the team’s bread and butter, ranking second last year with 149.4 rushing yards per game and 158.8 per content in 2006. In their first two losses however, Jacksonville had only managed 131 rushing yards.

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Even with the team focusing on establishing the run, the Jags will have to pass the ball to balance out their attack. Last week Jacksonville rushed the ball 48 times, which was two shy of the franchise record, while quarterback David Garrard had a season low 22 pass attempts. Don’t expect this team to change the way they move the ball too much though, since they have two of the better backs in the league and their style has always been to pound it down the opponent’s throat. If you like the Jags -7.5 this week, bet the game at Sportsbook.com and get a 100% bonus on your first winning wager.

The Houston defense has not performed well so far this year, and could have problems in stopping the Jaguar offense. The team is giving up an average of 34.5 points per game, and a daunting 168.5 rushing yards per game. Last week Houston gave up 343 total yards to the Tennessee Titans in a 31-12 loss.

Even though the defense struggled, the offense can’t say they performed much better, converting only three of their 15 third-downs and scoring only 12 points despite six trips into the red zone. Quarterback Matt Schaub was only 17-of-37 passing, and was picked off three times.

The bright spot for the Texans came in the form of Steve Slaton, the rookie out of West Virginia was making his first start, and carried the ball 18 times for 116 yards and a touchdown.

If you are thinking about backing Houston, take note that the team is just 4-22 on the road since the beginning of the 2005 season. However, the only team they have really had any success playing is Jacksvonille, going 3-3 in six matchups at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. If you think the Texans can cover the +7.5 spread, bet the game easily at Sportsbook.com using your credit or debit card.

Score Prediction: Jags 24, Texans 17

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