NFL Week 12 preview: Jaguars to overturn Week 3 Texans defeat

With turkey on the menu and football on the agenda, the NFL is back for Thanksgiving! As the season begins to creep towards the business end, there is yet another week of scintillating action between the league’s top sides.

With a matchup in the AFC South to get all southern football fans on the edge of their seats, as well as a host of top-quality football from across the league, we take a closer look at two of this week’s standout games.

We preview the two eye-catchers from Week 12 below.

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston Texans, Sunday 18:00

This week, Houston plays host to what is the feature match of Thanksgiving weekend. This matchup sees a re-ignition of a rivalry between two teams that aren’t too fond of each other after their epic matchup back in Week 3.

Houston were the victors on that day by a scoreline of 37-17, but they head into this one as the slight underdogs at 21/20. That game showcased the emergence of CJ Stroud as he helped the Texans to what was his first career win.

Now CJ Stroud is one of the league’s standout players and has been a name floated around the MVP conversation. Stroud has been on fire recently, throwing over 1100 yards and eight touchdowns in his last three games.

The Jaguars’ star man Trevor Lawrence will not like that his limelight in the AFC South is being somewhat taken over by the looming shadow of CJ Stroud, and he will want to set the precedent here, by throwing more yards than Stroud, and he is 5/4 to do just that.

Lawrence put up his third highest passing yardage of the season against the Texans in week three and we wouldn’t be surprised if he were to put on another show here at 5/6 to throw over 253.5 yards.

In what is sure to be a close-fought contest, the Jaguars just edge it in the outright betting as 4/5 favourites, and the value of a win for the visitors, who are 5-0 on the road since their week three loss, can be increased with the Jaguars to win with a -1.5 point handicap at 10/11.

Buffalo Bills @ Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday 21:25

Just 1,500 miles away, at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, the Eagles will be hosting the Bills as Nick Sirriani’s team bid to become the first side to reach 10 wins in the NFL this season.

The Bills desperately need wins if they are to force their way into the playoffs picture and they got just what they needed against the 49ers last week. At 6/4 they are shorter than some may have thought for this game, and that could be a hint at an upturn in form for the Buffalo side.

On the other hand, the Eagles are a formidable force and only the Jets have managed to beat them this season. It is no surprised that they are 10/17 favourites to win this game on their home patch, where they are yet to lose this season.

Jalen Hurts wasn’t up to his usual tricks against the Chiefs as he threw for just 150 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception. The Eagles still managed to get over the line in that game and that could relieve some pressure from the star quarterback, who we think could bounce right back and throw over 1.5 touchdowns at 10/11.