Jaguars Set To Travel to Houston To Play Texans in Week 1
The Jacksonville Jaguars will attempt to break the NFL's longest losing streak on the road to start the 2021 season as Trevor Lawrence begins his NFL career against an AFC South rival.
The NFL announced its slate of Week 1 games early Wednesday, with the Jaguars' first game of the Trevor Lawrence/Urban Meyer regime set to be played against the Texans in Houston. The game will be played on Sept. 12 at 1 p.m. ET.
The Jaguars are 14-12 overall in Week 1 games in their history, and facing the Texans to start the season is something a few of their players will remember well. It was in 2017 when the Jaguars opened against the Texans and stomped Houston for a 29-7 victory to kick off the Sacksonville era, the first win in a 10-6 season that saw the Jaguars win the AFC South and advance to the AFC Championship Game.
This is the second year in a row the Jaguars will be starting the season off with a divisional game. The Jaguars' lone win in 2020 came in a Week 1 home contest against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Texans lead the all-time series against the Jaguars 25-13. The Texans have won the last six games against the Jaguars, however, with Jacksonville's last win against Houston coming on Dec. 17, 2017. The Jaguars lost to the Texans 30-14 in Houston last season before dropping their home game against the Texans in a 27-25 nail-biter.
It remains to be seen exactly who will be taking snaps for the Texans in Week 1, but the first time we see Joe Cullen's defense, Lawrence, Travis Etienne, and the Jaguars' entire crop of free agents and rookies will be against the Texans, who will be led by first-year head coach David Culley.
“Well, the way I've always looked at everything is—at the moment whoever gives us the best chance to win is going to be playing, if that's your question," Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer said on April 30.
"And that's every position at that moment who gives us the best chance to win and that there is an incredible amount of urgency. I told our players that, all due respect, the four-, five-, six-year plans, that’s not that plan at all. The plan is to try to do the very best to win. Every time we line up, we try to win.”
The entire Jaguars' schedule for the 2021 season will be announced at 8 p.m. ET.
