{"id":327184,"date":"2026-07-02T12:20:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T12:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/327184\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T12:20:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T12:20:31","slug":"recent-texans-prediction-shows-jaguars-must-continue-to-establish-their-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/327184\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Texans prediction shows Jaguars must continue to establish their identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025 season was an exciting one<\/a> for the Jacksonville Jaguars. It marked the start of a new era, with the team hiring a new general manager and head coach ahead of the season, and the new era started beautifully in Duval. The team finished the regular season with a 13-4 record, won the AFC South, and suffered a close loss in the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Now, there\u2019s a lot of excitement surrounding the Jags ahead of the 2026 season, but they aren\u2019t the AFC South team with the highest expectations. That would be the Houston Texans, who were 12-5 last season, finishing second in the division. Houston did win one playoff game, but they split the regular season series with Jacksonville.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s been the Texans, this offseason, who have been getting the lofty expectations. The latest example of that came in an ESPN piece, where NFL analyst Ben Solak made 10 bold predictions<\/a> about the season. One of Solak\u2019s bold predictions was that Houston will win the AFC \u2014 not just its division, but the entire conference, meaning the Texans will play in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Texans predicted to win AFC, giving Jaguars tough competition in the AFC South<\/p>\n

The prediction itself isn\u2019t all that problematic. Houston could have played in the Super Bowl this past season if Texans quarterback CJ Stroud didn\u2019t play the worst game<\/a> of his career at the wrong moment. That\u2019s why it\u2019s reasonable to predict Houston could get to the Super Bowl next season.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s fair for Jaguars fans to ask why Houston garners so much more respect than Jacksonville, when both teams\u2019 2025 seasons were about equal. The simple answer is that the Texans have been to the Divisional round the last three years, while the Jaguars just returned to the playoffs after a 4-13 season the year prior.<\/p>\n

A more layered answer is that Houston has an identity that people can cling on to, while not everyone is sold on, or even knows, Jacksonville\u2019s identity yet. Solak emphasized that the Texans’ defense should once again be elite, so all Houston really needs is a productive run game and for Stroud to be competent.<\/p>\n

The Jaguars haven\u2019t established a dependable identity like Houston\u2019s defense yet. It could be Jacksonville\u2019s offense<\/a>, which posted 27.9 points per game under offensive-minded head coach Liam Coen<\/a>, but the unit will have to put up another year of production to really be respected. <\/p>\n

If that happens, and the Jaguars defense also improves, it could be Jacksonville winning the AFC.<\/p>\n

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