Jacksonville Jaguars should have no trouble sweeping Texans in 2021

After a busy offseason, the Tennesse Titans and the Indianapolis Colts could be in a tight race for the AFC South crown in 2021. Although the Jacksonville Jaguars may not be able to catch up with them just yet, they have made several upgrades this offseason and won’t make things easy for either team.

Lurking from behind are the Houston Texans, who could struggle to win games in 2021. Maurice Moton of Bleacher Report recently drew up a list of nine bold predictions for the 2021 season. One of them is that Houston will win just one game this upcoming season. So who will the Texans be beating? The Jaguars, of course.

"Houston plays in a division with two teams that made the playoffs in 2020. The Jacksonville Jaguars will have this year’s No. 1 overall pick, Trevor Lawrence, under center. The Texans may be able to split their season series with a young Jaguars squad, but that’s about it for them in the win column."

There are several reasons why the Texans could have a losing season in 2021 but the main one is the status of Deshaun Watson, who is currently facing 22 lawsuits that allege sexual assault and misconduct. If the 2017 first-round pick is a no-go, Tyrod Taylor will be the starter. Moton believes that Houston isn’t going to earn many victories “with a quarterback on his fifth team and an unsettled offensive line”.

Moton notes that things are equally dire on defense. He mentions that the front seven doesn’t have a premier pass rusher after moving on from All-Pro defensive end J.J. Watt and trading linebacker Benadrick McKinney. Things aren’t much better in the secondary, which currently lacks serviceable starting cornerbacks.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have enough talent to sweep the Texans in 2021.

How good will the Jaguars be in 2021? It’s hard to tell, as they are in the early stages of a rebuild. Although they are not a playoff contender yet, they are better than they were in 2020, when they lost 15 consecutive games. They got significantly better this offseason while Houston got worse.

Even if Watson plays this upcoming season, the Texans have done an inadequate job replenishing their roster. Bill O’Brien did a poor job of managing Houston’s cap space and draft picks during his tenure as the general manager. Even though he’s no longer with the team, his poor decision-making is still hindering the Texans.

On the other hand, the Jaguars are trending up and should be able to dispatch Houston twice in 2021. They fortified most positional groups in free agency. They also have a potential franchise quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, who will take advantage of Jacksonville’s talented skill-position players.

The Jaguars will not vie for the division crown this upcoming season but they should have no trouble exceeding expectations. After all, head coach Urban Meyer has stated he envisions the team competing right out of the gate. While beating the Titans and the Colts twice in 2021 may prove to be a challenge, Jacksonville should have no trouble sweeping the Texans.