The Jacksonville Jaguars (6-5) are facing a pretty even opponent this week in the Houston Texans (5-6), and it should be a close game.  The Texans don’t have a particularly good defense, especially when it comes to pressuring quarterbacks, so David Garrard should have some opportunities to make some big plays.  The Texans do give up 120 rushing yards per game though, so Maurice Jones-Drew should be the first option for the Jags’ offense.  In their meeting earlier this year where the Jags won 31-24, Jones-Drew rushed for 119 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The Jaguars defense, specifically their pass defense, is not very strong.  They give up close to 250 passing yards per game and in their last game against the Texans, Matt Schaub threw for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns.  The Schaub-Andre Johnson connection has been one of the Texans’ strengths all season, so the Jags need to keep Johnson in check.  I expect a very close game, but I’m giving the Texans a slight advantage since the Jags’ pass defense is so weak and Schaub has proven he can put up some big numbers against them.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Jacksonville Jaguars 21, Houston Texans 28

The Jacksonville Jaguars (6-4) are looking for their fourth win in a row this week and will facing off against the San Francisco 49ers (4-6).  The Jaguars’ offense has been doing a good job taking care of the ball and that is the main reason they have a three game winning streak.  Quarterback David Garrard only has one interception during that streak, and if he can continue to be smart with the ball the Jaguars will have a great shot at winning this one.  Maurice Jones-Drew is going to play through a knee injury and should still be very effective against a 49ers defense that has been struggling against the run lately.  If Jones-Drew’s knee is bothering him a lot though, the Jaguars may be in some trouble.

The Jaguars’ defense needs to get some turnovers and do their best to limit running back Frank Gore.  Gore is averaging 5.4 yards per carry this season, but he doesn’t get much help from his quarterbacks.  Alex Smith has started the last five games for the Niners and has thrown at least one interception in every one.  Smith’s inconsistency will likely continue and I think this will give the Jaguars the edge.  I think the Jaguars will win the turnover battle and thus win the game because of it.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Jacksonville Jaguars 24, San Francisco 49ers 21

The Jacksonville Jaguars (5-4) are hosting a new look Buffalo Bills (3-6) team this Sunday.  The Bills fired head coach Dick Jauron and have a new interim head coach in Perry Fewell, who is starting Ryan Fitzpatrick instead of Trent Edwards.  With a different coach and quarterback, it will be a little more difficult for the Jaguars to prepare for this game.  Fitzpatrick has not been very good in the few games he has played this year, but he did lead the Bills to two wins out of his three starts earlier this season.  They will most likely be relying a lot on their running backs Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch.  Neither back has been particularly good this year, but both are proven backs and Jackson has found more success in the Wildcat formation.  The Jags are giving up 118 rushing yards per contest, so they need to be ready for the Bills to attack them on the ground.

The Jags offense has had Maurice Jones-Drew putting them on his back lately, and it has been working.  In the last four games, Jones-Drew has rushed for 560 yards on 91 carries (5.6 avg) and 7 touchdowns.  The Jags have won three of those four games.  The Jags should continue to feed the ball to Jones-Drew and the Bills will have a hard time stopping him.  They are giving up 173 rushing yards per game, so Jones-Drew will most likely have a big game and would be a good player to have on your fantasy team this week.  David Garrard has benefitted from Drew’s strong play and has had two solid games in a row.  The Jaguars should be able to run all over the Bills so I am picking them to win somewhat easily.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Buffalo Bills 17, Jacksonville Jaguars 27

The Jacksonville Jaguars (3-3) are on the road against the Tennessee Titans (0-6) Sunday and will be facing Vince Young, not Kerry Collins.  Young will be making his first start of the season against the Jaguars, so they have to prepare for a much more athletic quarterback this time.  They easily beat the Titans 37-17 earlier this month, but I think it will be a little bit more of a challenge since Vince Young can use his legs and not just his arm.  His arm is one of the most inaccurate and he has been sitting all year, so I am expecting him to throw an interception or two, something the Jaguars should take advantage of.

The Jaguars running game has been great, and since the Titans give up nearly 100 rushing yards per game I am expecting another big game from Maurice Jones Drew.  He had 133 rushing yards and a touchdown, along with five catches for 45 yards.  Tennessee has a pretty good running attack themselves, with Chris Johnson coming off a 128 yards rushing last week and now the athletic Vince Young under center.  I think this game will be a little close than last time, since Young will bring a new look for the Titans, but it should be the same result for the Jaguars:  victory.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Jacksonville Jaguars 28, Tennessee Titans 21

The Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2) are hosting the Tennessee Titans (0-3) this week and are looking to build off their 31-24 victory over the Houston Texans last week.  Although the Jaguars have a losing record, they have been playing pretty well, but inconsistent.  They put up a very strong effort against the Colts, as they held Peyton Manning and their offense to only 14 points, but fell apart the next week against the Cardinals as they allowed Kurt Warner to break the NFL single game completion percentage and put up 31 points.

Jaguars’ quarterback David Garrard has struggled at times this year, but he seems to be more of a game manager than a play-maker.  He has thrown only one interception in three games, but the passing game has lacked rhythm all year and they only have two passing touchdowns.  Garrard has done a good job of making plays with his feet when it presents itself though, as he has rushed for 70 yards on 13 attempts (5.4 avg).  The Jaguars running game has been strong and Maurice Jones-Drew is the main reason.  In three games he has rushed for 282 yards and four TD’s on 57 carries (4.9 avg).  He had a huge game last week going for 119 yards with three touchdowns (including a 61-yard touchdown run in the second quarter) on 23 carries (5.2 avg).

The Titans will be able to slow down the Jaguars running attack though, as they are one of the best in the league at stopping the run despite their win-less record.  The Titans already have as many losses as they did last year and are desperate for a win.  I think this will be a very close game but with the Titans holding teams to an average of 60 rushing yards per game, combined with the fact that the Jaguars passing game isn’t much of a threat, I think the Titans will do just enough to hold off the Jaguars.  The Titans defense is strong and they are so badly in need of a win, so I think they will be able to pull out a late game-winning field goal.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Jaguars 21, Titans 24

The Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2) are taking on the Houston Texans (1-1) this week in Houston and are hoping they can avoid going 0-3 on the season.  The Jaguars defense has to play better then it has so far this season.  They need to get at least some pressure on the Texans’ quarterback Matt Schaub or he is going to light them up like Kurt Warner did last week.  Schaub threw for 357 yards and four touchdowns last week against the Tennessee Titans, so he is a talented quarterback.

This will probably be a pretty high scoring game, as the Texans defense is just as bad as the Jaguars.  David Garrard and Maurice Jones-Drew could have a break out game this week, as the Texans’ defense is last in the league in total yards so far, allowing 455.5 yards per game.  Garrard needs to protect the ball much better than he has been and needs to stop fumbling.  He has more fumbles than touchdowns, three vs two.  The Jaguars better hope that their defense can slow the electric Houston offense down some, or this will be a shootout the Jaguars wont be able to keep up with.

With both defenses not showing much so far this season, it will be an offensive battle.  The Jaguars offense has been pretty stagnant thus far, and Houston’s offense looked great last week, so I think the Texans are going to be able to put more points up on the board and pull out a high scoring victory.  I think the Jaguars will have a better game offensively, but they just wont be able to keep up with the Texans.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Texans 38, Jaguars 31

The Jacksonville Jaguars are hosting the Arizona Cardinals Sunday and are looking to rebound after a close 14-12 loss last week against the Indianapolis Colts.  The Jaguars should look to blitz Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner heavy and often, as Warner struggled with the 49ers pressure in their 20-16 loss.  Warner threw two interceptions and was sacked three times, as the 49ers showed a great way to defend against the defending NFC Champions.

The Jaguars offense did not look very good last week, as quarterback David Garrard only racked up 122 yards.  They had only two passes for more than 15 yards.  Running back Maurice Jones-Drew was one of the few bright spots for the Jaguars offense, as he rushed for 97 yards on 21 carries and scored a touchdown.  He also caught a lot of passes out of backfield and was pretty much the Jaguars only threat on offense last week.

The Jaguars defense did hold the Colts to 14 points, but they also gave up 365 yards.  I think the Cardinals know they need a big win this week and I am expecting a much sharper Cardinals offense.  I don’t think the Jaguars have enough weapons on offense to keep up with the Cardinals and I see the Cardinals coming out of Jacksonville with a victory.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Cardinals 28, Jaguars 17

The Jaguars appear to be a team on the rise in the AFC and I think they will not only win more than 10 games but I think they will dethrone the Colts as division champs.  Book it, the Jaguars will be a serious Super Bowl Contender in 2008.

The Jaguars have a fantastic defense and a unbelievable running game on offense but it’s still hard for me to pull the trigger on the over.  David Garrard has never proven that he can make a big throw when it counts and the Jags still have a lousy receiving corps so I have big doubts that they can sustain big-time success.  I prefer not to take either the over or the under because I see the Jags being a 9 win type of team.

The over/under on Jaguars wins is 9.  The Jaguars are 33-1 to win the Super Bowl and 15-1 to win the AFC.

I suggest a bet on the over because of the weak division (except the Colts) that the Jags play in.  I also think they could win enough games to host some playoff games, so you never know….AFC Champs…..possible at 15-1.