JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars know just how much is at stake entering Week 6.
The Jaguars have a long season to go after their first brush with the Houston Texans on Sunday, but that doesn't take away the importance of a rivalry AFC South game that could heavily impact where each team goes from here. As Jaguars head coach Liam Coen noted this week, divisional games offer a chance for a different slate of circumstances compared to typical weeks.
"Know that every time that you line up against this team, it's going to be a fight. It's going to be a brawl. That's what's great about football, that's what's great about rivalries, is that you have a level of respect for each other," Coen said.
"Because you know any given Sunday, anything can happen, especially in rivalry-type games and understanding what you can learn from each of these opportunities that you play against one another in, and how well you start to get to know each other in ways in terms of what they want to do, what we want to do. And that's the cat and mouse game; that's the game within the game that you have to play.”
So with the Jaguars and Texans seemingly so evenly matched entering Week 6, how does the national media see this game playing out? We break it down below.
National Media Picks
Sports Illustrated
Albert Breer: Texans
Eva Geitheim: Jaguars
Mitch Goldich: Jaguars
Mike Kadlick: Jaguars
Gilbert Manzano: Jaguars
Conor Orr: Texans
John Pluym: Jaguars
Matt Verderame: Jaguars
ESPN
Pamela Maldonado: Texans
Eric Moody: Jaguars
Seth Walder: Texans
NFL.com
Jeremy Bergman: Texans
Brooke Cersosimo: Jaguars
Gennaro Filice: Texans
Bobby Kownack: Jaguars
Dan Parr: Jaguars
The Athletic
Zach Berman: Texans
Jon Greenberg: Texans
Larry Holder: Jaguars
Chad Graff: Texans
Josh Kendall: Jaguars
Austin Mock: Jaguars
Steven Louis Goldstein: Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars On SI Analysis
Jaguars get the nod over Houston 14-9, making this their second-tightest voting split this year after their Week 2 game against the Denver Broncos. This is not exactly surprising considering the Jaguars and Texans played each other so tightly two years ago, and considering the fact that so many had picked the Texans to win the AFC South to begin with. Houston just needed one win against the hapless Titans to draw closer to the Jaguars in terms of votes.
I think this will be a close game because, on paper, these two teams are close in nearly every area. The Jaguars have a much better running game than the Texans do, but both teams have talented quarterbacks who are playing well, proven head coaches, explosive pass-catchers, strong defenses, so on and so forth. Even the biggest question for each team is the same (the offensive lines). While the Texans are 1-4, everything indicates this is a closer matchup on paper than one would think just looking at the records.
With that said, I think the fact the Jaguars have been a more complete team this season is no accident and is not owrth simply tossing aside. The Jaguars have been one of the best teams in the NFL this season, and the Jaguars have more things to hang their hat on right now than this Texans squad does. I have the Jaguars 27, Texans 24 in what should be another one-score game that gets decided with a late score or stop.
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