How the Playoff Pressure Just Got Turned Up on Jaguars

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars have a familiar threat right on their tails.

The Houston Texans have been the biggest thorn in the Jaguars' side for most of the last few years. From struggles against them at home in 2022, to the 2023 playoff race, to last year's controversial Trevor Lawrence injury, and then finally to the 19-point blown lead in Houston earlier this month.

Now, the Jaguars have the Texans once again hot on their heels. And once again, the Jaguars will have to do everything they can to keep them from catching up.

Texans Threat

With the Texans' massive win over the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football, they have improved to 6-5 -- which puts the Jaguars on the hot seat when it comes to their Week 12 game against the Arizona Cardinals out west.

LIAM DEMECO — Sep 21, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen and Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans shake hands after the game at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

If the Jaguars defeat the Cardinals in Week 12 like they are supposed to, then they will still be ahead of the Texans in both the AFC South and wild card race with a 7-4 record. A loss, though, would put the Jaguars on even footing with the Texans and force them to have to keep pace with Houston and their elite defense all season.

The Jaguars have nobody but themselves to blame after letting what should have been an easy sweep of the Texans slip out of their hands two weeks ago, but they have shown that they moved on from the loss. Now is the time to show just how much they have moved on.

Nov 16, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen reacts to a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers during the third quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

Jaguars head coach Liam Coen knows what is at stake, and he also knows what the Jaguars have in front of them. The Jaguars have the season firmly in their hands, and they alone are the ones who will determine exactly where this season goes from here.

"Ultimately in a season, there's highs and lows, but when you play as we played on Sunday, there's a new standard now in terms of, okay, well that's what it looks like when we prepare the way we did and got ourselves in the mindset, mentality to go play that way. And performed obviously, cleaner. The physicality and all that I really appreciated and we want every week, but it was just cleaner in a lot of ways and in all three phases," Coen said this week.

"And so, that is the standard and we all kind of owe it to each other in that room to uphold that standard moving forward in terms of the way that we go about our business, prepare and ultimately play. So that's the thing about coaching and playing in the National Football League with long seasons is the teams that can maintain that sustained success and consistency throughout a number of weeks and give yourself a chance.”

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