The Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5) can change their season dramatically with a win this week against the NFC South-leading Houston Texans (4-3). The Texans, who started the 2011 season 2-0, are 2-3 over the last 5 weeks and have made the division look much more accessible as a result.
The Jaguars, coming off a surprising Monday night victory against the Baltimore Ravens, suddenly find themselves just two games back from the division lead -- and potentially just one game with a win today.
Last week, defense was the name of the game for the Jaguars as they prevented the vaunted Baltimore Ravens offense from collecting a single first down until partway through the third quarter. While the Jaguars did benefit from some dropped passes, they consistently pressured Ravens QB Joe Flacco and stifled RB Ray Rice. They will no doubt need to do more of the same against the dangerous combo of Matt Schaub and Arian Foster of Houston.
Meanwhile, their offense looked almost as equally lost as the Ravens staff. For the Jaguars to succeed today, they will need to see signs of progress from quarterback Blaine Gabbert -- but mostly they will need RB Maurice Jones-Drew to go crazy.
Gametime is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. EDT kick off.
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