Week 9 of the NFL season begins with what is supposed to be one of the most competitive games of the week, the 6-2 Houston Texans traveling to the 2-6 New York Jets and Aaron Rodgers.
The Texans are coming off a last-play victory against the Indianapolis Colts that gave them a two-game lead in the AFC South. The Jets come in on a five-game losing streak after falling in the final seconds to the woeful Patriots last week.
Despite the records, the Jets are a 2-point home favorite in the prime time game.
The NFL Week 9 Thursday Night Football game between the Houston Texans and New York Jets will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
The Texans at Jets game will stream on Amazon Prime.
The Texans at Jets game kicks off at 6:15 p.m. MT/7:15 p.m. CT.
Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit will call the game from the MetLife Stadium booth, and Kaylee Hartung will report from the sidelines.
The Jets are a 2-point home favorite over the Texans in NFL Week 9 odds for the game, courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. The New York Jets are -130 on the moneyline, while Houston is +110. The over/under is set at 42 points.
Injury Report
Houston Texans
Receiver Stefon Diggs has blown out his ACL and is out for the year. Guard Jarrett Patterson is out with a concussion. Safety Calen Bullock, safety Jimmie Ward, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair and running back Dameon Pierce are questionable. Linebacker Henry To’oTo’o is expected back as he is out of concussion protocol. Receiver Nico Collins will miss this game but should be back for the Week 10 game against the Detroit Lions.
New York Jets
Guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, receiver Allen Lazard, defensive tackle Leki Fotu, safety Ashtyn Davis and safety Tony Adams are questionable.
With a line of 2 points and an over-under of 42, the expected result is a Jets victory of 22-20.
Predictions
Bill Speros writes: “Happy Halloween. The Jets have been waiting for the Great Pumpkin since 1969. It won't be coming this year, either. Who needs Michael Myers when you have Woody Johnson? Owner Johnson gave coach Robert Saleh a bag of rocks 3 weeks ago. Aaron Rodgers has been spooked all season. He looked like an extra out of the “Walking Dead” in a Sunday loss at New England. The Texans have been giving their backers off-brand candy corn this season, going 3-4-1 ATS. Maybe the Jets could put on the scariest costume of all and show up as a fully functional franchise. More likely, it will be another “Nightmare at MetLife” as the house of horrors that is the Jets franchise continues its free fall in 2024.”
The site’s formula predicts that the Texans will win the NFL Week 9 game against the Jets.
ESPN: Texans have a 50.7% chance to beat Jets on Thursday Night Football
The site gives the Jets a 48.9% shot at winning the NFL Week 9 game, with a 0.4% chance of a tie.
Dimers: Jets 23, Texans 21
It writes: “After extensive simulations, our model gives the Texans a win probability of 42%, while the Jets have a win probability of 58%.”
Texans vs. Jets: A Halloween Costume Contest
It’s Halloween, and for the Jets to lasso Houston at MetLife Stadium in the NFL’s first game of Week 9, they’ve got to put on the costume — and more important, adopt the belief of — a 6-2 team that the Texans are and not the 2-6 team that the Jets are.
“Just smile, show up, trust, believe, and root us on as hard as you can. We need that noise,” QB Aaron Rodgers told Green & White fans this week after declaring that he felt “really good” heading into this short week. “We’re trying to rectify this as quickly as possible. I know it’s been frustrating for everybody, but still a lot of season left.”
One of the important costume dramas in this game between somewhat banged-up combatants will be the quarterbacks, Rodgers vs. second-year signal-caller C.J. Stroud. Rodgers, 40 and soon to turn 41, will be facing the second-youngest QB in terms of age gap in Stroud (17 years, 305 days) after starting against the youngest last Sunday in the Patriots’ Drake Maye (18 years, 271 days), although he finished against the more senior Jacoby Brissett, who got the 25-22 win in relief and sent A-Rod and the Jets to their fifth straight loss.
For the Jets to turn their airship around Thursday night, they’ll have to be the better-dressed team in terms of hospital patient get-ups. They will be playing without WR Allen Lazard, DL Leki Fotu and K Greg Zuerlein, all of whom were placed on Injured Reserve. LB and defensive captain C.J. Mosley, G Alijah Vera-Tucker and safeties Tony Adams and Ashtyn Davis are all out with injuries.
But the Jets have some interesting additions to the roster that everyone knows about. WR Davante Adams will be playing his third game wearing his new shade of green after starting his career with Rodgers and the green and gold Packers. And edge Haason Reddick, who began his season with 26 defensive snaps at New England, will seek to kick it up another notch and get after Stroud in the Texans’ pocket.
Speaking of kicking it up, young but well-traveled Riley Patterson will replace Zuerlein as the Jets’ kicker. In two stints with Detroit plus a season with Jacksonville and two games with Cleveland last year, Patterson has converted 88.1% of his field goal attempts, including 19 of 25 from 40-plus yards.
Houston is also feeling the bite of the injury goblin. WR Stefon Diggs, a Jets tormentor for the Bills in seasons past, is out for the season with a knee injury, and WR Nico Collins is still a week away from coming off IR. The visitors will also be without injured starters Jimmie Ward at S and Azeez Al-Shaair at LB.
The Battle of the QBs: Stroud vs. Rodgers
Returning to the QB soap opera featuring the Young (Stroud) and the Ageless (Rodgers), they are the only two players in NFL history with a pass-TD percentage above 4.0% and an interception rate below 1.5% (minimum 750 attempts). So both are capable of lighting up the Meadowlands night.
But as crisp as the start of Stroud’s career has been, he’s had a few ghoulish moments. Two games ago, in Houston’s loss at Green Bay, he was held to 86 passing yards and 55 net passing yards (adding in sack yardage). That was only the second time in his 23 career starts that he failed to reach 100 yards in each category.
The first time was in last year’s unlucky Gm 13, also a road test against the Jets, in which he passed for 91 yards, second lowest game total of his career, and had 53 net passing yards, his least in a game as a pro.
The Jets’ second-ranked pass defense will try again to offer more trick than treat to Stroud and the Texans just ahead in primetime on TNF.
Inactives
These are the Jets’ seven inactives for the game:
- G Alijah Vera-Tucker (Toe)
- WR Allen Lazard (IR - Ankle)
- DL Leki Fotu (IR - Knee)
- K Greg Zuerlein (IR - Groin)
- S Tony Adams (Concussion)
- S Ashtyn Davis (Groin)
- CB D.J. Reed (Groin)
The Texans have just a five-player inactive list tonight:
- G Jarrett Patterson (Concussion)
- WR Nico Collins (IR - Foot)
- S Jimmie Ward (Hamstring)
- LB Azeez Al-Shaair (Shoulder)
- RB Dameon Pierce (Illness)
Looking Ahead
This will be the Jets’ fifth prime time game this season. They are 1-3 so far, with their only primetime win coming at home against New England on 'Thursday Night Football' in Week 3.
This will be the third TNF game at MetLife Stadium this season. Along with the Jets win over New England, the Giants lost at home against the Cowboys on TNF in Week 4.
Joe Mixon leads Texans to Victory
You can set your watch by Joe Mixon.
His consistently productive start to the 2024 regular season continued in the first half on Thursday night in New Jersey.
With 3:21 left in the second quarter, the veteran running back motored to the left and into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown run in the Texans’ game against the Jets.
It was the 14th play of a 98-yard drive that saw the Texans melt 8:23 off the game clock.
For Mixon, it was his 15th carry of the game, and put him at 85 yards in the contest.
It was also his sixth scoring run of 2024.
The Ka’imi Fairbairn extra point put the Texans up, 7-0.
Mixon had three runs of 10 yards or more in the half, including a 29-yarder.
The Texans would go on to win 21-14.
