Official Texans @ Jaguars Game Thread, 10/18/2015

[Arky]

The 1-4 Texans travel to Jacksonville Sunday to take on the 1-4 Jaguars in an early game. The Jags are comng off a 38-31 road loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs. Against the Bucs, Jags QB Blake Bortles was 23/33 for 303 yards, 4 TD's, 1 INT and a rating of 125.4. He was sacked 6 times, however.

The Texans are coming off a 27-20 home loss to the Indianapolis Colts in a Thursday night game. The Texans will try to counter Bortles with JJ Watt who has been tough on Jag's QB's. Watt has 11.5 sacks in 8 games against the Jaguars and 6 against Bortles in two meetings. QB Brian Hoyer is expected to start for the Texans.

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TV = CBS (channel 11 local), noon CST, Sunday

Announcers = Tom McCarthy, Adam Archuleta (the "F" team)

The line = pickem to Jags by 1.5

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Other Sunday viewing in the Houston area:

CBS (late) = San Diego @ Green Bay -- Jim Nantz, Phil Simms

FOX (late) = Carolina @ Seattle -- Sam Rosen, John Lynch

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Prime time:

TNF = Atlanta @ New Orleans, CBS/NFLN

SNF = New England @ Indianapolis, NBC

MNF = NY Giants @ Philadelphia

[popanot]

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter · 17m17 minutes ago
Joe Haden and Tashaun Gibson out Sunday.
Jadeveon Clowney out Sunday.
DeMarcus Ware out Sunday.

Ugh... Clowney out.

[WMH]

Originally Posted by popanot

Ugh... Clowney out.

That blows. JJ will likely get quadruple teamed now.....

[Keith]

Clowney, sadly, is entering official bust zone, due to his injuries. Stinks.

As for Watt, he played better last season without Clowney, and has been routinely doubled and sometimes tripled, so I'm not sure how much Clowney's absence affect him on Sunday.

I think this defense overall, including Watt, just got a little too heady thinking they were better than they were. There's talent on the defense for sure, maybe less so at safety and linebacker, but I still believe there's a good D in there somewhere if these guys just stay in their lane and fulfill their roles. Playing the Jags is a good opportunity to start getting back on track.

[popanot]

Quite a few pundits I follow the Twit say Clowney is actually playing pretty well and showing flashes of becoming a dominant player, although, it hasn't shown up in the sack column yet. With that being said, you still have to be consistently on the field and Clowney certainly hasn't done that yet. Bad thing is, we're quickly getting to that timeframe where you need to know what you have before that contract option kicks in.

On another note: JJ is now Questionable for the game due to illness.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by popanot

Quite a few pundits I follow the Twit say Clowney is actually playing pretty well and showing flashes of becoming a dominant player, although, it hasn't shown up in the sack column yet. With that being said, you still have to be consistently on the field and Clowney certainly hasn't done that yet. Bad thing is, we're quickly getting to that timeframe where you need to know what you have before that contract option kicks in.
On another note: JJ is now Questionable for the game due to illness.

Isn't there 2 years to go after this season before his rookie contract is up ?

[Keith]

I'm awesome at quoting myself.

Originally Posted by Keith

As for Watt, he played better last season without Clowney, and has been routinely doubled and sometimes tripled, so I'm not sure how much Clowney's absence affect him on Sunday.

Anyone notice how much more Watt moved around the line with Clowney out? Left side, right side... I think he moved more today than he did in the first five games combined. And I liked it. Watt obviously was struggling the further away he was from when he took IVs, but he was harder to contain for the offense when he moved around.

Crennel needs to keep this in mind if and when Clowney returns this season. Not quite sure Crennel is figuring out how to maximize the pieces he has on defense. Adding Clowney should make a defense more dynamic, not less dynamic.