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.