The Jacksonville Jaguars will travel to Houston this weekend to play the division rival, Houston Texans on Sunday. 

The Jaguars are coming off a Week One loss to the Kansas City Chiefs where the team’s defense was overwhelmed by the Chiefs’ high-powered aerial attack. After giving up almost 400 passing yards last week, Jalen Ramsey and the Jaguars secondary will face another formidable wide receiver group spearheaded by DeAndre Hopkins. 

On the other side of the ball, the offense will have many questions to answer going into the Week 2 matchup; most of them surrounding rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew II who took over after Nick Foles broke his clavicle in the first quarter last week. Jaguars fans are optimistic about Minshew. He vastly exceeded expectations in his debut and became one of the most intriguing quarterbacks in the league overnight. Can Minshew Mania continue in Houston?

The Texans opened their season with a narrow loss to the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. The game was back and forth. The Texans pulled ahead by one when they scored a touchdown on a drive in the final minute that only took 13 seconds off the clock. The Saints, however, were able to drive down the field to allow their kicker to hit the go-ahead field goal from 58 yards as time expired.

Three things Jaguars fans should watch for in Week 2

1. Gardner Minshew

Gardner Minshew has dominated Jaguars-related headlines for the last week. How could he not? Between the stories of him stretching in the locker room wearing nothing but a jock strap, to his 80s-style moustache and comparisons to Uncle Rico from “Napoleon Dynamite”.  Minshew has quickly become one of the most intriguing rookies in the league. 

After Nick Foles went down in the first quarter against the Chiefs, Minshew came in and played sensationally. The rookie posted 275 yards and two touchdowns, completing 88 percent of his throws. Some might argue that this game was a fluke. Others are all aboard the Minshew train, thinking that he has a chance to be the next Tom Brady.

Will he live up to the hype or will Minshew Mania fizzle out?

 2. Jaguars defensive line

The Jaguars’ defensive line is arguably one of the strongest units on the field when healthy. Additionally, the Texans had one of the worst offensive lines in football last year. They improved by adding Laremy Tunsil at left tackle to protect Deshaun Watson’s blind side.

Unfortunately, Yannick Ngakoue will sit out Week 2 with a hamstring injury. Rookie Josh Allen will start instead. The matchup between him and Tunsil should be a fun one to watch.

 3. Holes in the roster

Ngakoue is not the only big name that will miss Sunday’s game. Corner A.J. Bouye is also out with a hip injury and left tackle Cam Robinson is still out with a knee injury. The last time Robinson played was Week 2 last year when he tore his ACL.

Other Jags out today include wide receiver Marqise Lee, tight end Josh Oliver and tackle Cedric Ogbuehi. 

Division games are often close, so expect this game to be hotly contested. Kickoff is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. EST.

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