Photo: Wesley Hitt.501-258-0920
RJ Bell: "Jacksonville surprisingly was favored this week, why? Well, they are hosting the Houston Texans. They were favored by 3.5 points as of yesterday. Homefield is considered less than 3 points these days, so Jacksonville is considered the superior team. And this was yesterday, when there was no sense that Urban Meyer was going to be fired this week. This felt like a key game for Meyer to keep his job after this year. Then he was fired late last night, and the line went up from 3.5 to 4, then to 4.5, then to 5. So Jacksonville is now favored by 5 points over Houston, why is this? There is this concept called a 'fired coach bump.' Since 2009, when a coach either resigns or is fired during the season, that team is 17-9 against the spread in the next game. Is that a sure thing? No. But 65% of the time the team overperforms and now the market is aware of that, and the market tends to adjust when it knows there is a factor like this. It's an up arrow for Jacksonville for at least the first game."
RJ Bell and AJ Hoffman react to a major line move in favor of the Jacksonville Jaguars after the news of Urban Meyer's firing. RJ breaks down the reasons why this sudden move took place, and explains what it could mean for the Jaguars moving forward.