In the early years of the rivalry, a number of former Jaguars played key roles for the Texans. Gary Walker and Seth Payne were expansion draft picks. Houston's first head coach, Dom Capers, had been the Jaguars defensive coordinator.

And of course, Tony Boselli was supposed to be the cornerstone for the Texans' future. That didn't happen.

Whether that actually motivated Houston is open to debate.

If that did make a difference, those former Jaguars are long gone from the Houston roster. So what gives now?

David Garrard admits that the Jaguars may have overlooked the Texans in the past.

"There were times when we would see their record--and we were a pretty good team--and we would take them too light[ly]," said Garrard. "I think we're wise to that now. We don't do that. I see us putting up a pretty good performance."

The Jaguars swept the Texans two years ago and last year, they beat Houston by 20 points in October, then played their backups in a loss to Houston in the last week of the season. So maybe, the Curse of the Texans is over. Still, two of the last three years (2004, 2006) Houston swept the season series against the Jaguars and the Texans routinely beat the Jaguars when Jacksonville most needs a win.

"I don't know what gives when it comes to them being a thorn in our sides," defensive end Paul Spicer said. "When the Texans play us, I think their team matches up well. It just comes down to a physical game."

Jack Del Rio initially didn't give the history between the teams much attention, but when pressed on the issue on Wednesday. Del Rio admitted that there is one area where the Jaguars have struggled against Houston.

"I think the rest of our division has had a stronger presence off the edge of their defense hitting the quarterback," Del Rio said. "I think their quarterback has been a little too comfortable in the games we've played."

And that's one reason why the Jaguars drafted Derrick Harvey and Quentin Groves in April.