New York Jets host Houston Texans
It's a meeting of teams headed in opposite directions when the surging New York Jets play host to the slumping Houston Texans on Sunday 21 November.
Previous meetings and recent games
Since the Houston Texans joined the league in 2002 they have yet to beat the New York Jets, with the Jets winning all four meetings. The most recent meeting took place in the opening week of last season when the Jets won 24-7.
Since suffering a 9-0 defeat at the hands of the Green Bay Packers, the New York Jets have bounced back with a pair of overtime wins. Neither one has come against what the league would consider premium opposition (the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns),
but the Jets will make the claim that they find a way to win the tough games. The Jets are currently tied with the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons for the best record in the NFL at 7-2.
The Texans, once again, find themselves slipping down the standings after a positive start to the year. It seems as though the Texans have been saying it's their year to make the play-offs for several seasons now and just hasn't materialized. They haven't
done themselves any favors recently by losing their last three games. Two of those three games were also against divisional opponents which will hurt them in any tie-break situations.
How they match up
For the Texans, their main offensive threat is Arian Foster who currently leads the NFL in rushing with 920 yards. In just his second season Foster has run for 100 yards or more five times, but he's struggled against teams that boast better run defences,
and only managed 56 yards against the Jaguars. Three-hundred and thirty-three of his yards this season have come against the Indianapolis Colts, but that's not saying much as just about everybody has been able to run against the Colts. Foster now has to go
up against the Jets who are ranked fifth in the league stopping the run and haven't allowed a rusher to run for over 100 yards all season.
Throwing the ball for the Texans is Matt Schaub who was hospitalized recently with a bursa sac injury in his right knee. It's apparently nothing serious and Schaub expects to be ready to go. He's put up good numbers and Andre Johnson is always a reliable
receiving option.
The Jets offence took a couple of hits last week against the Browns as quarterback Mark Sanchez hurt his calf, while receiver Jerricho Cotchery suffered a slight groin tear. Sanchez is apparently good to go, but Cotchery could miss some time. The Jets will
look to use their running duo of LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene as they have the NFL's fourth ranked running offence. The return of Santonio Holmes, who missed the first four games of the season because of a suspension, has also proved a valuable addition
as he has made several key catches including the catch which won the Jets the game last Sunday.
What to expect
Even if the Jets seem to outmatch their opponents, they never run away with a game. Both of their losses this season came at home where they are 2-2. A loss for the Texans could have serious consequences as far as their play-off hopes are concerned so they'll
have a lot to play for.
Rex Ryan and the Jets will be able to run the football and that will be enough to get the Jets the win. Jets take it 29-20.
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