The New York Jets (7-2) Vs. Houston Texans (4-5)
Where: New Meadowlands Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ.)
When: Nov. 21, 1 p.m., EST
Television Coverage: CBS
Statline (I): Jets outgained the Texans in yards 462-183 en route to a 24-7 victory last season.
Statline (II) : Jets have never lost to Texans, and are 4-0 all-time against them.
FEATURED MATCHUP: Jets CB Darrelle Revis Vs. Texans WR Andre Johnson
In my opinion, the two Johnsons are the premier wide receivers in the NFL right now. Revis held Calvin Johnson to just one catch for 13 yards just two weeks ago. He now faces the other Johnson, the one he did a great job in coverage against last season, holding him to just four catches for 35 yards.
With TE Owen Daniels ruled OUT for Sunday's game due to injury, the Texans really only have two solid targets on offense right now, Johnson and Foster. Both are game-changers though, and the Jets will have to make sure both are accounted for each and every down.
Johnson has been ailing from a nagging ankle injury throughout most of the season, though, and that might give an advantage to Revis.
STAT BREAKDOWN: Do the Texans even have a defense?
Houston ranks dead-last in the NFL in passing yards at 302 per game, and second to last in the NFL in total yards at 409 yards per game.
They haven't kept a single team under 24 points this season, which is why they rank second to last in points allowed and are giving up 28 points per game on average.
Stop Arian Foster
So far this season, Jets have kept the following prolific running backs at bay: Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Peyton Hillis. In fact, the Jets have allowed just two 100-yard rushers in 28 games in the Rex Ryan regime. Impressive.
This week, they face RB Arian Foster, who leads the league in rushing yards, total touchdowns, and rushing first downs. I truly believe Foster is the best open-field runner in the NFL, and the Jets inside linebackers and safeties must make sure they utilize their good closing speed to keep his yards at a minimum. Once he gets going and gains momentum, he is extremely tough to tackle in the open-field.
Bottom Line
Houston is a team that I think is going south. They've lost three in a row, and four of their last five. Their defense has been atrocious this year, and in the NFL, teams can't approach every game by hoping to score 30 points. That just doesn't work, defense wins championships.
On top of all that, they have two injuries on offense that I think they're trying to down-play: Matt Schaub was hospitalized earlier in the week and is suffering from knee inflammation, and Andre Johnson is nursing an ankle injury. Without these two performing at 100%, I don't see how they are going to consistently move the chains, this offense lives and dies off the big play.
The overtime sweaters stop this week. The Jets will remove the cuffs from Sanchez, challenge the Houston cornerbacks early and often, and never look back.
The Jets are the more complete team from top to bottom, and they have the Texans outclassed at every position (sans running back, which is even). They'll show it on Sunday, and I'm predicting a full-team effort and a more comfortable win, a nice change of pace from the last couple of weeks. I look for QB Mark Sanchez to have one of the best games of his career, with the Jets racking up close to 500 yards.