HOUSTON -- The only folks who seemed shocked when oddsmakers
installed the winless Jaguars as 3-point favorites Sunday at
Houston were the reporters asking the questions this week.
"We have to come out and put on a better showing at home and
maybe we'll get some more respect from those guys who make the
point spreads," guard Zach Wiegert said. "I don't worry about
that stuff. I have enough to worry about blocking my guy."
The Texans are two ugly losses removed from being the feel-good
story of the NFL's opening week, when they went to Miami and beat
Team September 21-20. They shouldn't be surprised they're home
underdogs against a rebuilding team -- and they aren't.
The past three weeks have taught the Texans they're good enough
to beat anyone, anywhere, when they play relatively mistake-free
football. But they're too thin and inexperienced at several
positions to have much room for error.
On the heels of second-half implosions that resulted in blowout
losses at New Orleans and at home to Kansas City, the Texans now
have a legitimate chance to be 2-2 if their offense can pick apart
a questionable Jacksonville secondary and the defense can take
advantage of the Jaguars' apparently confused quarterback
situation.
The Texans never reached .500 again after starting 1-1 last
year, so a win would mark a minor milestone. Then again, Las Vegas
doesn't believe it's going to happen.
"I guess that's how the lines go. When you get beat 42-14 your
home opener, that probably going to have something to do with it,"
said David Carr, who overcame his first mini-controversy after the
game when he appeared to take a swipe at offensive coordinator
Chris Palmer's play-calling. He later clarified that there was no
disagreement and he was only disappointed he didn't perform better.
The Kansas City blowout was every bit as bad as the score
indicated, but it should be noted it was still a 14-7 game late
into the third quarter when a fumble, a defensive lapse and a punt
return for a touchdown doubled the Chiefs' score in a two-minute
span.
When the offense, defense and special teams all go south
together, coach Dom Capers says, no team has a chance to win.
"We have to find a way, when things are going against us, that
some phase of our team has to pick it up and turn things around,"
Capers said.
Unfortunately for the second-year franchise, there's not much
breathing room on the schedule. Over the remaining 12 games after
Jacksonville and the Week 5 bye, the Texans have only four games
left against teams currently on the skids -- the Jets, Bengals,
Falcons and Jaguars again.
And you can even put an asterisk by the 1-2 Falcons because they
should have electrifying quarterback Michael Vick back when they
visit Reliant Stadium on Nov. 30.
Until the Texans can start limiting gaffes and keeping their
heads together when a game starts to sour on them, oddsmakers might
keep giving all comers the benefit of the doubt. Even winless ones
like the Jaguars.