Jaguars vs. Texans Game Preview

It's Battle Red Day, and the Texans have once again scheduled the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville is 2-5 in Reliant Stadium (1-5 under Jack Del Rio), and the team is looking to rebound from a dreadful performance as they were crushed by the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday, 31-17, in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score would indicate.

Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2) vs. Houston Texans (1-1)

Sunday, September 27th, 12:00 p.m. (CST)

Reliant Stadium

Kickoff Temperature: Roof closed

Line: Texans by 4

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Three most important things for the Jaguars on defense:

1. Don't play scared. The Jaguars secondary is young, but if they are afraid to make mistakes and give too much cushion on the Houston receivers, the Jags will get picked apart like last week.

2. Change up your looks. The Texans offense struggled on opening day against the New York Jets, as Rex Ryan brought blitzes from anywhere and everywhere. The Jaguars don't have the same talent as the Jets on defense, but they can change up their looks to try and confuse Matt Schaub and a patchwork offensive line.

3. Tackle better. Reggie Nelson, we are talking about you. Nelson and the Jags secondary missed too many tackles to count last week, and they must do a better job of wrapping up.

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Three most important things for the Jaguars on offense:

1. Run the ball. It's what you do best and it's what they stop least. New York and Tennessee had great success against the Texans on the ground, why can't the Jaguars?

2. No turnovers. Houston has more talent than Jacksonville and the way to win in a tough road environment will be to not turn the ball over. Not even once.

3. Play like your job is on the line. David Garrard has to be better. He's not earning his contract and it's time for him to lead the team to a victory. Houston's secondary has been terrible and this is a great opportunity for the Jags to get their passing game going.

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What to look for:

1. Look for Maurice Jones-Drew to get over 100. MJD is one of the best players in the game, and is the Jags best playmaker. He will run the ball and catch it out of the backfield early and often.

2. Look for Schaub to throw for nearly 300. Matt Schaub is coming off a career game and this defense is much worse than the Titans D that he shredded a week ago.

3. Look for the Texans to register at least three sacks. The Jags offensive line isn't that bad, but Garrard tends to run into sacks.

4. Look for Andre Johnson to have a rough day. Jaguars corner Rashean Mathis shadowed Larry Fitzgerald last week, and did a fine job on him. Look for the Texans other wideouts to be more productive than Johnson.

5. Look for a trick play. It could be a fake kick, maybe a halfback option or something else, one of these teams will pull something out of the bag in hopes to get a cheap score.

Sleeper watch: Jarett Dillard, Zac Diles