Those teams expected to be so much better than their current 4-7 records, so much more than an irrelevant sideshow to the NFL's main event.

Jacksonville won 11 games last season and made it to the divisional playoffs, in which it lost at New England. The Texans weren't quite as good, but they were definitely trending up, finishing 8-8 for the first non-losing record in club history.

To match that, Houston would have to win four of its last five games, a tall order considering the Texans still have Green Bay, Tennessee and Chicago on the docket.

Maybe the Texans will get a little extra spark playing on Monday night. Really, there's no way to know how they'll react, because this is the franchise's first appearance on "Monday Night Football." In fact, it's the first Monday night game in Houston since Nov. 21, 1994.

The Jaguars, meanwhile, are probably happy to be out of Jacksonville. They are 3-2 on the road but only 1-5 at home. They lost to Minnesota in Jacksonville eight days ago, turning the ball over five times.

"It was an embarrassing performance," Jaguars Coach Jack Del Rio said. "Might have been as bad as I've felt postgame."

And considering the way things have gone for his team this season, that's really saying something.

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sam.farmer@latimes.com

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Tonight's game

Jacksonville at Houston

5:30, ESPN