Houston Texans vs Jacksonville Jaguars: 3 keys to the game

Dec 7, 2014; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) scrambles out of the pocket against the Houston Texans at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Richard Dole-USA TODAY Sports

I feel like a broken record here, but the Jacksonville Jaguars are coming into week six of the regular season after another game that they certainly could have have won. Blake Bortles arguably had his best game of his NFL career throwing for over 300 yards and four touchdowns for the first time in his 2 seasons in the league. Bortles, and the young offensive weapons on the Jaguars roster are by far the most positive things on this team with Allen Hurns having the eight most receiving yards in the league and Allen Robinson’s four touchdown receptions are tied for the fourth most in the NFL.

However, the glaring problem for the Jaguars last week was their defense. Doug Martin absolutely torched the Jaguars defense having his best game of the year so far. He ran for a total of 123 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, as well as one reception for a touchdown. The biggest strength of the Jaguars defense heading in last weeks matchup was indeed stopping the run but they struggled to deal with the loss of Paul Posluszny and it lead to a huge performance for Martin.

The past couple weeks have been very tough for Jacksonville Jaguars fans but the Jaguars have another game that is certainly winnable against the Houston Texans. Jacksonville was unable to win either of their match ups against Houston last season but now lets review the three keys to a big divisional win for the Jaguars.

1. Protect Blake Bortles 

I understand that the Houston Texans defense only has six total sacks on the season but J.J. Watt has sacked Bortles six times in only two match ups. Watt is known for being a great defensive end and Bortles has experienced Watt’s talents to the fullest, Watt has sacked Bortles the second most out of any NFL quarterback in his career.

Let’s go back to the Jaguars’ two losses last year against the Texans, in the first matchup Blake Bortles was sacked four times and he threw one interception. The second matchup was a similar result for the Jaguars, Blake Bortles was sacked five times and he was only able to throw for a total of 117 passing yards.

Blake Bortles has yet to beat the Texans in his career and if he wants to win, the offensive line will need to make sure he is kept free from J.J. Watt.

Next: Slow Down DeAndre Hopkins