- What: NFL Regular Season Game
- When: October 31, 2024
- Who: Houston Texans vs. New York Jets
- Time: 5:15 p.m. PST
- Where: Metlife Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ)
The New York Jets will host the Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, during NFL Week 9.
Houston Texans
Houston kicked off the season with gritty victories against the Indianapolis Colts (29-27) and Chicago Bears (19-13), but it faced a setback in Week 3, a 34-7 blowout against the Minnesota Vikings.
Since then, quarterback C.J. Stroud and his team have turned things around, winning four out of their last five games, including narrow victories over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, and Indianapolis Colts and a dominant 41-21 victory against the New England Patriots.
However, they also endured a last-minute loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Who’s ready for primetime⁉️ pic.twitter.com/zyISkef6nQ
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 31, 2024
Aside from their Week 6 victory over New England, the Texans have had difficulty finding the end zone. Now, they’re dealing with the absence of receivers Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs, who will both miss the game due to injury.
Diggs is out for the season with an ACL injury.
Running back Joe Mixon has been impressive when in the lineup, averaging over 100 yards per game during his five starts after missing Weeks 3-5 due to an ankle injury.
Mixon, who has accumulated 319 rushing yards on 63 attempts over the last three weeks (averaging just under 5.1 yards per carry), has the potential for another standout performance tonight, especially with the Jets missing starting inside linebacker C.J. Mosley.
Although the Texans’ offense has had its ups and downs, their defense has been exceptional. Houston ranks third in the NFL for yards allowed per game and is also tied for third in sacks, totaling 27.
New York Jets
The Jets’ roster is packed with star talent, but they’ve faced several challenges that have made their path to the playoffs difficult.
Issues such as penalties, kicking game troubles, and red-zone inefficiencies are just a few of the self-inflicted wounds this team has been grappling with, leaving them in desperate need of a miracle to secure a postseason spot.
Since Robert Saleh’s firing following their Week 5 defeat to the Vikings in London, the Jets have lost three straight.
They fell short against the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots due to their struggles in the red zone, which was especially noticeable in the game against the Bills.
HAPPY GAMEDAY ???????????? pic.twitter.com/VfVHJIZRCV
— New York Jets (@nyjets) October 31, 2024
In addition to those issues, missed field goals have played a significant role in their losses.
They also had double-digit defeats against the San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers. Their other four losses this season have come by a mere total of 13 points.
It’s also worth noting that kicker Greg Zuerlein, who has missed six kicks this year, has been placed on IR. While this change won’t fix everything for the team, improved field-goal kicking could be crucial if they remain in tight contests.
New York has shown at times some capability in stopping running attacks, yet they surrendered 180 rushing yards to the 49ers in Week 1 and 149 yards each to the Steelers and Bills in Weeks 6 and 7.
Texans-Jets Best Bet
This is a strange matchup because you rarely see a team with a 2-6 record favored over a team with a 6-2 record. While the Jets are at home and should have some advantage, it feels like an odd point spread by oddsmakers. The Jets are favored by 2.5 points.
Typically, home teams have an advantage on Thursday Night Football. However, this one still doesn’t make much sense to me. I would avoid the moneyline and the spread in this one.
The total seems like a much better bet. Oddsmakers have set the total at 42.5 points.
While this total feels low, both these teams have good defenses, and I believe they’ll make it difficult for the opposing offenses to put up points. Not to mention the Jets’ struggles in the red zone and kicking field goals this season.
Under 42.5 points at -110 at BetMGM is the best bet in this one.
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Tony Reyes is a sports betting analyst and reporter for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X @TonyParlay.
