The Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans both suffered devastating blows in Week 1. For the Jacksonville Jaguars, they suffered an unfortunate injury to Nick Foles in the first quarter.
On the play, Foles connected with DJ Chark on a 35-yard pass that resulted in six points for the Jaguars. At the same time, the Jaguars quarterback took a nasty hit from Kansas City Chiefs Chris Jones that caused Foles to lay in agony.
After the game, Foles was diagnosed with a broken left clavicle and was placed on injured reserve. Therefore, Foles can't make his return to under center until Week 11 (at the earliest). While he is nursing his injury, rookie Gardner Minshew will rally the troops in Jacksonville.
As for the Texans, their devastating blow came in the form of a 58-yard field goal from Wil Lutz's leg. The New Orleans Saints prevailed over Houston in Week 1 with a game-winning field-goal attempt as time expired.
Despite the loss, Deshaun Watson looked spectacular with 268 yards and three touchdowns through the air. The Clemson product also tallied 40 yards and a touchdown with his legs.
Now, both the Jacksonville and Houston will face each other in Week 2, looking for their first win of the season. With that being said, here are four bold predictions for the Jaguars and Texans matchup in Week 2.
4. Leonard Fournette Will Have Six Receptions
Without Foles under center, the Jaguars may turn to Leonard Fournette to contribute more in the offense. Over the offseason, the bruising back worked on his pass-catching skills and in Week 1 it slightly showed.
The third-year running back caught four passes for 28 yards against the Chiefs in Week 1. Now, with Minshew as the starter, Jacksonville may be inclined to get the ball out of his hands as fast as possible.
As a result, Fournette should see more opportunities to catch the ball in Week 2. So much so, that the LSU product will end up finishing the game with a career-high six receptions.
3. Will Fuller Will Have More Catches Than DeAndre Hopkins
One of the marquee wide receiver/cornerback matchups in Week 2 is Jalen Ramsey covering DeAndre Hopkins. Ramsey will likely shadow Hopkins in this game as much as possible; leaving opportunities for everyone else in Houston's offense to produce.
Due to this, Will Fuller will finish Week 2 with more receptions for the Texans than Hopkins. Fuller showed in Week 1 against the Saints that he is fully recovered from his torn ACL from 2018.
The speedy wideout finished the game with two receptions for 69 yards on Monday night—including a remarkable 54-yard reception in the first half. The Jaguars had troubles covering Sammy Watkins in Week 1 and their struggles will continue against Fuller.
2. Watson Will Be Sacked Eight Times
Coming into Monday night's game versus the Saints, all eyes were on how the Texans offensive line would look. Even with newly acquired Laremy Tunsil, they showed that there are vast improvements that need to be made in the coming weeks.
Throughout the game, Watson was running for his life all night and ended up being sacked six times. The going gets tougher for Watson and the offensive line as they face the Jaguars pass rush in Week 2.
The Jaguars failed to tally a sack against the Chiefs in Week 1 and will be motivated to get to Watson this week. Is it really a bold prediction to envision Watson getting sacked even more than six times in Week 2? Nevertheless, the Jaguars will bring the Texans quarterback down eight times on Sunday.
1. Minshew Will Throw for Over 350 Yards
The Jaguars are hoping that their rookie sixth-round pick in Gardner Minshew will be able to hold them above water while Foles is out with injury. Surprisingly, Minshew stepped in for Foles in Week 1 and wowed plenty of fans with the poise he showed under center.
In Week 1, Minshew completed the game with 275 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Along with those impressive stats, the mustache-wearing quarterback out of Washington State also completed 88-percent of his passing attempts.
For Minshew, the rookie signal-caller will look to continue his momentum against a decent defense of the Texans. With this intention, Minshew will end Week 2 with over 350 yards through the air in his first career start in the NFL.
Follow Us
Subscribe