Jaguars vs. Texans Prediction and Odds for Week 17 (The ultimate let-down spot for Jacksonville)

December 28, 2022 ndowd

The Jacksonville Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence have come alive and all of the sudden they’ve steamrolled their way to the top of the AFC South. The Houston Texans did them a favor, beating Tennessee last week. Regardless of the results of both team’s Week 17 results, they’ll be playing for the AFC South title in Week 18.

The Jaguars got to the top of the division by soundly beating the Jets on Thursday Night Football to get to 7-8. They’ve now won four straight and five of six. The Texans actually have more at stake in this one with a chance of losing the first pick in the draft. They’re 2-12-1 and Chicago is 3-12, a win could mean they miss out on their next franchise quarterback.

Let’s take a look at the odds for this AFC South matchup.

Jaguars vs. Texans Odds, Spread and Total

Houston and Jacksonville Betting Trends

Houston is 7-7-1 ATS
Jacksonville is 7-7-1 ATS
Jacksonville is 4-0-1 ATS in last 5 vs. AFC
Houston is 5-1 ATS in last six vs. AFC South

Jaguars vs. Texans Prediction and Pick

The Jaguars did it. They battled back into playoff contention and now they control their own destiny. The thing is, it doesn’t matter if they win this game and that’s such a dangerous spot to be in as a gambler. For as much as we want to look at numbers and think of these games as being played in a simulation, they’re human, they know the reality of the situation and it’s only human nature to let your foot off the gas.

Not that the game means a ton of Houston, but there’s motivation in playing spoiler against a division rival.

Vegas knows the reality of the situation here too and that’s baked into the four-point spread. Jacksonville has shown themselves to be a very good team down the stretch, Trevor Lawrence has played like one of the elite NFL quarterbacks. Against New York he wasn’t special and Houston has been very frisky, taking Kansas City to overtime and beating Tennessee.

Houston has the worst run-defense in the NFL, and they gave up 184 on the ground to Tennessee, so that’s concerning when betting on the Texans, but I’m going to do it knowing that it’s a huge look-ahead spot for the Jaguars, maybe the biggest in franchise history.

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change

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