The Sports Xchange

Houston Texans (1-4) at Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4)

Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, at EverBank Field, Jacksonville, Fla. – TV: CBS

*TV announcers: Tom McCarthy, Adam Archuleta

*Keys to the game: Coach Gus Bradley came to Jacksonville with a reputation as a great defensive mind, which makes the Jaguars’ struggles on that side of the ball all the more frustrating. Bradley is unwavering in his belief the talent is there and that it’s more a matter of players fixing the problems worked on in practice and not making new ones in games.

Whatever the case may be, the Texans have to see an opportunity to get their inconsistent offense untracked against a team allowing 29.0 points per game. QB Brian Hoyer, who started the season-opener and relieved the past two games, get the call this week for coach Bill O’Brien, who hardly provided a strong vote of confidence when deeming it “11 one-game seasons.” RB Arian Foster has averaged a meager 1.9 yards on his first 27 carries and had a big deflection that led to an interception last week. Houston desperately needs its veteran leader to produce to avoid another early hole to dig out of.

The Jaguars expect emerging QB Blake Bortles to be play despite a sprained shoulder, although rookie RB T.J. Yeldon (groin) is far less certain. The way to attack Houston is on the ground, but the Jaguars’ top three rushers (Yeldon, Denard Robinson and Bernard Pierce) are all banged up, meaning Bortles may need to move the ball in the face of a fearsome pass rush.

*Matchup to watch – Texans OLB Jadeveon Clowney vs. Jaguars LT Luke Joeckel: The top pick from the 2014 draft and the second overall pick from the year before will see each other often Sunday. Clowney is being given a flier by many as essentially a rookie due to his knee injury last season, but he has only nine tackles and still has yet to register his first career sack. Joeckel is in a very important third season for the Jaguars to gauge his long-term role for the organization.

*Player spotlight – Jaguars TE Julius Thomas: In what could be seen as another slight on the coaching staff, Bradley admitted there was no real plan to incorporate Thomas when he made his season debut on short notice last week. He was targeted twice, hauling in both passes for 20 yards and should be a bigger factor in the gameplan after a full week of practice.

*Fast facts: Foster has averaged 112 yards from scrimmage in eight career starts against Jacksonville. … Bortles has at least two TD passes in three of his past four games. He has a 102.6 passer rating in the first half of games compared to 76.1 in the second half.

WHO WILL WIN AND WHY

Coach Bill O’Brien’s musical chairs at QB and oversight of an undisciplined Houston team leaves much to be desired, and Jacksonville may be the better of the 1-4 teams. But the Jaguars are also dealing with several injuries in the backfield that will enable the Texans to unleash their pass rush and create turnovers.

*Our pick: Texans 23-19.