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On Sunday the Jacksonville Jaguars will take on the Houston Texans, a team the Jaguars are favored against by double digits. It’s a game, that if the Jaguars win, will guarantee their first playoff berth since the 2007 season. While the Texans are a team the Jaguars should be able to handle, we’ve seen too many times that the team that should lose ends up winning.
Remember when the Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots a few days ago?
As such, I agree with Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith.
#Jaguars Telvin Smith with the quote of the day on matchup with the #Texans:
— Alyssa Lang (@AlyssaLang) December 13, 2017
We have to make sure we don’t take this team lightly..We know we’re the better team.
We have to play how we play, and don’t think they’re going to come out and be some slapd**ks.
The Jaguars can’t come out thinking the Texans are a bunch of “slapdicks”. The Jaguars are clearly the better team and should win pretty handily, but there’s always that chance of the upset. A tipped ball here, a blown coverage there and all the momentum and stats can go out the window.
The good thing is, it hasn’t felt like this team lets all the headlines and praise get into their head. They’ve been able to turn a lot of the accolades into new chips on their shoulders. Take defensive end Yannick Ngakoue for example, as he’s taking what looks like what will be a Pro Bowl snub personally. You have Jalen Ramsey lamenting the lack of shutouts that the defense has.
Doug Marrone has done a fantastic job of keeping the team focused and when there is a headline he can exploit, I.E. the 50 points jab from Michael Bennett, he twists the knife and it works.