Houston Texans Games by Difficulty: No. 8

The next game on the Houston Texans countdown is another divisional game, this time on the road at the Jacksonville Jaguars:

Coming off the bye week can be a double edged sword. In one sense, you can be rested and get some more time to heal before taking on your next opponent. But on the flip side, the week off can knock a team out of sync and they come out flat after the two week break.

In week ten, the Texans head to Jacksonville for the first of the two meetings with the Jaguars. The Jaguars will have high expectations for the first time in years, as will the Texans. The heightened expectations is what will make this matchup interesting.

While the Texans have dominated the series against the Jaguars in Houston over the 14 year length of the rivalry, in Jacksonville the series has been split at seven each. From 2007-2010 the Jaguars won four in a row, but the Texans have won four of the last five in northern Florida to even the series.

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The last meeting was a 31-20 win for the Texans in week six last season. The Jaguars held a 14-10 lead in the third quarter before the Texans scored three straight touchdowns to take the lead. DeAndre Hopkins caught two touchdown passes and Andre Hal returned an interception for a touchdown to give the Texans a 31-14 lead. Allen Hurns caught a late touchdown to make the score more respectable but it was still a convincing a win for the Texans and one of Hopkins’ best games of the year.

November was when the Texans got it going last season, and this will be another November game. A win here could be exactly the thing that the Texans need in order to hit their stride and make another run at a division title. At the same time, it could do the same for the Jaguars, which is what makes this game so pivotal.