We have a few emerging teams in the National Football League that are going from pushovers to dynamic threats. In New York, both the Jets and Giants are on solid improvement paths, and the Atlanta Falcons have impressed viewers with a spirited brand of play that appears to be compensating for their apparent lack of talent.
But no team is on the radar for an upsurge with as many strong credentials as the Jacksonville Jaguars. Winners of two in a row before last Sunday’s setback in Philadelphia, the Jaguars are impressing critics even in defeat. At Philadelphia last week, the Jaguars were playing their second straight road game against the only undefeated team in football. They jumped up on the Eagles, led 14-0 early, and played pretty much blow-to-blow with Philadelphia late before absorbing an eight point loss, 29-21.
The Jaguars success is easy to track, it starts with second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The first pick taken in the 2021 draft, Lawrence struggled in his rookie season while the team misfired in a number of areas while led by the totally ineffective and since fired head coach, Urban Meyer.
This year, Jacksonville has turned the page, and a team that finished with the worst record in football the past two seasons is suddenly a threat for a playoff berth under new head coach Doug Pederson.
This week, the Jaguars host the Houston Texans, another standings bottom feeder in recent years and the only team in the NFL this season without a win. Houston got a tie on opening day when they hosted the Indianapolis Colts, but since have lost three straight games to the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Chargers.
Some might add significance to the fact that the Jaguars beat the Chargers in Los Angeles, 38-10, and the Texans lost last week at home to Los Angeles, 34-24. As if those results might support a case that the Jaguars are a much better team.
What that argument would be lacking is that those past results happened because of motivational factors that dictated the final scores. Just as the motivational elements present this week, based on what those results will cause, throws a huge advantage to the winless Texans in this Week 5 matchup.
Few things are more difficult for an emerging squad, like the Jaguars, than when they are first expected to win. Jacksonville was an underdog in their first four games, this week they are favored on the point spread and bet-on by the public. The Jaguars are coming off a loss and favored at home this week against a Texans team that has drifted from bad spot to bad spot motivationally and now land on the most positive spot of the week.
Whether the Jaguars will up their record to 3-2, or drop a second straight decision is open for debate, but which team has the advantage with the generous point spread in Jacksonville this week is not.
Take the points, case closed.
Qoxhi Picks: Houston Texans (+7) over Jacksonville Jaguars