There may not be a team the Jacksonville Jaguars and their fans loathe at this point in time more than the Houston Texans. After what transpired in Duval County last year in a Texans win in week 13, there are a ton of hard feelings in Jacksonville as players and fans alike have this one circled on their calendars. Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence said this offseason that he's got this one front and center for a little extra, given how it all played out last December.
But, it's circled on the Texans calendar too as they try to get off the schneid after a difficult 0-2 start, including Monday Night's gutpunch loss to the 2-0 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Texans took the lead with nearly two minutes left to go in the game. But, QB Baker Mayfield led the Bucs down the field to a game winning touchdown with six seconds left. That left the Texans 0-2 and searching for answers.
Similarly, the Jaguars had a second straight victory in their grasp, but allowed a Jake Browning game winning drive for the second time in three years in a 31-27 loss to Cincinnati. That loss left some questions for the Jaguars as well, so this game on Sunday is intriguing for many reasons. But, just know it's going to be extremely vitriolic and nerve-wracking for a full 60 minutes.
With that as the backdrop, let's get to Know the Texans' Week 3 Foe - the Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars 2025 Schedule (1-1)
Week 1 - W Carolina Panthers 26-10
Week 2 - L @ Cincinnati Bengals 31-27
Week 3 - Houston Texans
Week 4 - @ San Francisco 49ers
Week 5 - Kansas City Chiefs
Week 6 - Seattle Seahawks
Week 7 - Los Angeles Rams (London)
Week 8 - BYE WEEK
Week 9 - @ Las Vegas Raiders
Week 10 - @ Houston Texans
Week 11 - Los Angeles Chargers
Week 12 - @ Arizona Cardinals
Week 13 - @ Tennessee Titans
Week 14 - Indianapolis Colts
Week 15 - New York Jets
Week 16 - @ Denver Broncos
Week 17 - @ Indianapolis Colts
Week 18 - Tennessee Titans
Jaguars OFFENSE (in 2025 regular season)
Rushing Yards Per game - 169.5 ypg (1st in the NFL)
Passing Yards Per game - 219.5 ypg (14th)
Total offense per game - 389.0 ypg (4th)
Turnovers lost - 3 (3 INT)
Expected Jaguars starting offense for Week 3
QB - Trevor Lawrence
RB - Travis Etienne
WR - Brian Thomas Jr.
WR - DYAMI BROWN
WR - TRAVIS HUNTER
TE - Brenton Strange
LT - Walker Little
LG - Ezra Cleveland
C - ROBERT HAINSEY
RG - PARICK MEKARI
RT - Anton Harrison
Other Key Offensive pieces
RB - BHAYSHUL TUTEN
WR - Parker Washington
WR - TIM PATRICK
RB - LEQUINT ALLEN
TE - HUNTER LONG
- Italics - Rookie
- ALL CAPS - New to team in 2025
Keys to Winning v. the Jaguars Offense
- Two Headed Monster…a FAST one - The Jaguars running backs have been a clear arrow up for this offense in 2025. The arrival of new head coach Liam Coen seemed to give a major jolt to Travis Etienne, a running back many thought was done in Jacksonville. But, under Coen, he's been rejuvenated and when the Jaguars saw the Texans struggle to stop the run on Monday Night, his eyes must've lit up. Tampa Bay RBs Bucky Irving and Rachaad White are good backs, but neither of them impact an offense more effectively, and are more dangerous, than a healthy Etienne. But, the Jags star has a running mate, no pun intended, rookie Bhayshul Tuten, who can absolutely fly; he ran 4.32 in the Combine. His presence allowed them to trade Tank Bigsby to Philly and I was convinced Bigsby was going to supplant Etienne. That didn't happen and now the Jaguars lead the league in rushing over two games. Regardless, that's a two headed monster that is chomping at the bit to see this Texans defense.
- Edge Up - Heading into last year's game in week 13 in Jacksonville, the Jaguars starting tackles Walker Little and Anton Harrison had very little experience playing together. Shoot, they had very little experience, period. Little had stepped in for Cam Robinson, who was traded to Minnesota and is now with the Texans. Harrison was just in his second year and the Jaguars duo had to face one of the best edge pairings in the NFL - Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter. Not only did the Jaguars OTs hold the Texans star edge guys in check, the Jaguars, as a team, didn't allow a sack. In fact, they allowed just one QB hit each to Anderson and Hunter. That's it. They really controlled the game. However, in this matchup, this can't happen again if the Texans are to win this game.
- How much Hunter? - This is just my gut, but I think the Jaguars have been holding Travis Hunter back a bit to save him for this important matchup with the Texans. He's had little to no impact on either side of the ball, but I just keep thinking about Tank Dell from two years ago. Tank started off his career fine as a rookie in the first two weeks, but in week three in 2023, Dell broke out in a HUGE way at Jacksonville, truly kickstarting his rookie campaign against the defending division champions. I could see Jacksonville pushing a lot of chips to the middle of the table this week with Hunter, especially on offense, being the one with the most return in week three.
Jaguars DEFENSE (in 2025 regular season)
Rushing Yards Allowed Per game - 80.5 ypg (7th in the NFL)
Passing Yards Allowed Per game - 222.0 ypg (19th)
Total offense Allowed per game - 302.5 ypg (10th)
Turnovers generated - 6 (5 INT, 1 Fumble recovery, Jaguars are +3 in TO margin)
Expected Jaguars starting defense for Week 3
DE - Josh Hines-Allen
DT - Arik Armstead
DT - DaVon Hamilton
DE - Travon Walker
WLB - Devin Lloyd
MLB - Foye Oluokun
CB - Tyson Campbell
S - ERIC MURRAY
S - Andrew Wingard
CB - Jarrian Jones
Nickel - JOURDAN LEWIS or TRAVIS HUNTER
Other Key Defensive pieces
DE - Maason Smith
DT - Ventrell Miller
DE/LB - Yasir Abdullah
S - Antonio Johnson
Italics - Rookie
- ALL CAPS - New to team in 2025
- Keys to winning v. the Jaguars Defense
Keys to Winning v. the Jaguars Defense
- Foye Back! - The first week of the 2025 season was a win for the Jacksonville Jaguars in more ways than one. The team handled Carolina easily, but it was also LB Foye Oluokun returning to his high level of play. Later in the week, he was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week and it made me think of the 2022 Oluokun who had 184 tackles, helping to lead Jacksonville to the 2022 AFC South title, the last one won by a team not named the Houston Texans. For all the moving parts, and the return to health for many on the Jacksonville defense, Oluokun is the major key. The Texans run the ball well when they can get a hat on linebackers and occupy second level defenders. They struggle when they don't. Oluokun's quickness and smarts don't allow that to happen often, but that needs to change this weekend or the former Yale star will have AFC DPOW honors in his sights again.
- Flip It - The Jaguars started the week 13 matchup last year with the Texans with five defensive backs on the field. Of those five defensive backs, only two remain on the roster, but those two will play a significant role in pass coverage on Sunday in Duval County. CB Tyson Campbell and CB Jarrian Jones were those two and are probably the two best players in this secondary when fully healthy. But, two way star Travis Hunter will get reps in passing situations. This is an improved group but they continue to revise, edit and search for the right fit. It's getting there, however, Bengals QB Jake Browning lit it up against them over the last three quarters of last week's Jaguars loss. Perhaps, flipping it TOO much could be an issue and if it is, the Texans passing game MUST take advantage.
- Arik The Great - When DeMeco Ryans was defensive coordinator in San Francisco, he put serious pressure on opposing offenses due to a stout and athletic defensive front. Well, one of those players eventually signed with the Jaguars in 2024 Arik Armstead. The former 49ers star got off to a slow start and 2024 was pretty much a lost season. But, in 2025, in these first two games, he's shown that he's healthy and a serious problem for opposing offensive interior linemen. His length, power and athleticism have popped on tape, yet again, which will force the Texans offensive linemen to be that much better to contain the big fella.
