Texans Look to Clinch AFC South and More With Help
The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans meet at NRG Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Texans can clinch the AFC South with a win or Titans and Colts Tie. They can also clinch home field and other advantages with help from some other teams. The entire scenario is explained further down the article.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Texans -7 ;O/U: 40.
The Houston Texans were in a position to clinch a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs and possibly the No. 1 overall seed. But they dropped two of their last three games.
Houston will clinch the AFC South with a win and can grab the No. 2 seed with a win and a loss by the New England Patriots. The Pats close out the regular season by hosting the New York Jets. The Jaguars already clinched last place in the AFC South after reaching the AFC championship game last season. They are reduced to the role of spoiler on Sunday.
The Jaguars are 5-10 going into NFL Week 17. Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone benched quarterback Blake Bortles following a seven-game losing streak. Bortles will return to the starting role Sunday after he came on in relief and led a field-goal drive at Miami last week. The Jaguars averaged 11.3 points in the four games Cody Kessler started in place of Bortles.
The Texans are 10-5 going into week 17 and that is a minor miracle after starting the season 0-3. Houston suffered a 32-30 loss at Philadelphia last week. It wasn’t for lack of effort from quarterback Deshaun Watson. He wowed teammates and coaches with his performance. Watson threw for 339 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Eagles. He rushed for two more scores. He needs 69 passing yards on Sunday to reach 4,000 for the first time in his career.
PREDICTION: Texans 24, Jaguars 13
NFL Betting Odds & Trends
| Jacksonville Jaguars |
|---|
| The Jaguars are 2-7-2 ATS in its last 11 games |
| Jacksonville is 2-9 SU in its last 11 games |
| The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Jacksonville’s last 6 games |
| The Jaguars are 1-4-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road |
| The Jaguars are 1-5 SU in its last 6 games on the road |
| The total has gone OVER in 4 of Jacksonville’s last 5 games on the road |
| The Jaguars are 2-7 SU in its last 9 games when playing Houston |
| Jacksonville is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Houston |
| The Jaguars are 2-6 SU in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Houston |
| Houston Texans |
|---|
| The Texans are 6-12-2 ATS in its last 20 games |
| The Texans are 10-2 SU in its last 12 games |
| The total has gone OVER in 4 of Houston’s last 6 games |
| Houston is 3-6 ATS in its last 9 games at home |
| The Texans are 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home |
| The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Houston’s last 6 games at home |
| The Texans are 7-2 SU in its last 9 games when playing Jacksonville |
| Houston is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against Jacksonville |
| The Texans are 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Jacksonville |
NFL Playoff Scenarios for Houston
Houston can clinch the AFC South division title and home-field advantage throughout AFC playoffs with:
1) HOU win + NE loss or tie + KC loss + LAC loss + HOU clinches a tie in strength of victory tiebreaker over KC
Houston can clinch the AFC South division title and a first-round bye with:
1) HOU win + NE loss or tie
2) HOU win + KC loss + LAC loss + HOU clinches a tie in strength of victory tiebreaker over KC
3) HOU tie + NE loss
4) IND-TEN tie + NE loss + BAL win + HOU clinches a tie in strength of victory tiebreaker over BAL
Houston can clinch the AFC South division title with:
1) HOU win or tie
2) IND-TEN tie
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