Last Updated on November 17, 2010 10:40 pm by Anthony Rome
Texans vs. Jets Preview
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – The New York Jets have won two straight on their final play, keeping them tied atop the AFC East with the NFL’s best record.
The Houston Texans haven’t been nearly as successful with the game on the line.
The teams meet Sunday at New Meadowlands Stadium, with both coming off thrilling finishes that left the Jets celebrating and the Texans reeling from yet another defeat.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Jets 7-point spread favorites for Sunday’s game against the Texans. Current NFL Public Betting Information shows that 58% of more than the 5,265 bets for this game have been placed on the Texans +7.
New York (7-2) became the first team in NFL history to win back-to-back overtime games on the road, knocking off Cleveland 26-20 last week. Mark Sanchez hit Santonio Holmes for a 37-yard touchdown with 16 seconds remaining in the extra period.
Holmes also set up Nick Folk’s field goal Nov. 7 at Detroit with a 52-yard reception in OT as the Jets won 23-20.
The two hard-fought victories, though, came against teams with a combined five wins, causing some to question whether New York is a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
“This is the NFL. Who cares about what somebody else says?” Holmes said. “We want the ‘W’ and we’re going to walk away with the ‘W’ regardless of how it looks. We can stand out there and we could be flipping burgers. If we are the team to cook all of our burgers first and the other team was right there two seconds late, they lost. We’re the winners, and that’s how we’re going to roll with it.”
The Jets held Cleveland’s Peyton Hillis to 82 yards on 19 carries, and have not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 16 games.
Sanchez went 27 of 44 for 299 yards and two touchdowns, and added a 1-yard TD run with 23 seconds left in the first half to give the Jets a 17-13 lead.
The Jets are the only unbeaten team on the road at 5-0. They haven’t been nearly as good at home, scoring a combined nine points in losses to Baltimore and Green Bay.
New York will play two games at the Meadowlands in five days, with Cincinnati visiting on Thanksgiving Day.
“Whatever we’re doing on the road, we have to bring home,” offensive tackle Damien Woody said.
Like Holmes, coach Rex Ryan will take victories any way the Jets can get them.
“I hope we’re lucky all the way to the Super Bowl because we’ll take it,” Ryan said. “You can make breaks, but it’s funny because the good teams are always the lucky teams. I hope we keep that trend going.”
Houston (4-5) has been neither good nor lucky. The Texans lost their third straight and fourth in five games Sunday in stunning fashion, 31-24 to Jacksonville.
Houston’s Glover Quinn batted a Hail Mary pass on the game’s final play into the arms of the Jaguars’ Mike Thomas, resulting in a 50-yard touchdown. The defeat came a week after the Texans blew a nine-point lead by giving up two touchdowns in the final 5:48 of a 29-23 loss to San Diego.
“Our standard as a team is not being met right now,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “That’s all of us. We’ve got to find a way to meet our standards in all three phases of the game. We’re going to have to do a better job across the board.”
The results may not be much better against the Jets, whom the Texans have not beaten in four meetings since entering the league in 2002.
Houston ranks last in the NFL with 409.7 yards allowed per game, and NFL leading rusher Arian Foster was held to 56 yards against the Jaguars. That doesn’t bode well against a New York defense that’s fifth in the league with an average of 89.6 rushing yards allowed.
Houston’s high-powered offense, ranked sixth at 372.9 yards per game, will likely need to step up if the Texans want to get back in the AFC South race.
That offense should have Matt Schaub at quarterback even though he was hospitalized Wednesday as a precaution due to a bursa sac injury in one of his knees. Kubiak expects Schaub, fifth in the AFC in completion percentage (64.2) and yards passing (2,320), to be ready to go Sunday.
Andre Johnson caught nine passes for 146 yards and a touchdown last week, giving him a TD catch in three straight contests. He has three 100-yard games in his last four.
That, however, hasn’t translated into wins.
“Right now, everybody’s at a loss for words, and probably a loss for ideas, trying to figure out what needs to be done and get it on the right track,” defensive end Antonio Smith said. “Right now, I don’t care what it is, we’ve got to win, and that’s the bottom line.”
The Jets outgained the Texans 462-183 in a season-opening 24-7 victory last Sept. 13.