Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Houston Texans
Monday, December 1, 2008, 8:30pm
Reliant Stadium
Records: Jacksonville 4-7, Houston 4-7
Series history: Texans lead, 7-6. Last meeting, Jaguars won 30-27 in overtime in Jacksonville.
Five most important things for the Texans:
1. Score early. If the Texans can put some early points on the board, their home crowd will be in the game and it will be tough for a Jaguars team which doesn’t play well from behind.
2. Stop the run. If you stop the run, you stop the Jaguars.
3. Spread the football around. The Jags will be focused on stopping Andre Johnson, and none of their secondary are good cover guys with the exception of Rashean Mathis.
4. Stay in plays defensively. David Garrard holds the ball longer than any quarterback in the league, and he will sack himself if pressure arrives, even if it doesn’t arrive quickly.
5. Limit mistakes. If the Jaguars offense must go the length of the field to score, it’s not likely they’ll score. If the Texans play the Jags straight up, they will have an excellent chance to win.
What to look for:
1. Look for Rashean Mathis to line up against Andre Johnson. The Jags only chance to stop Johnson is with Mathis, but he still may not be enough.
2. Look for a lot of three-step drops. The Texans live with the short passing, three-step drop offense and look for that to continue.
3. Look for Owen Daniels to step up. The talented Texans tight end has a matchup advantage against any of the Jaguars linebackers.
4. Look for Slaton to get shut down. The dynamic Texans rookie will be a main focus of the Jaguars on Monday night. He should run for less than 60 yards.
5. Look for lots of red. It will be another “Battle Red Day” for the Texans, and usually that results in a Jaguars loss. Look for the Texans to play some inspired ball.
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