Texans vs. Jets betting odds, spread, over/under and prediction | NFL Week 9

Two teams in very different situation square up on a Thursday night showdown from Met Life Stadium. The Houston Texans are 6-2 and are playing like one of the best teams in the AFC despite a handful of injuries on both ends while the 2-6 New York Jets are in the midst of a midseason crisis and are already looking at being knocked out of the playoff picture if things don’t turn around quickly.

Matchup: Texans vs. Jets

The Texans came into the season with a bullseye on their back after an incredible turnaround season last year. Second year QB, C.J. Stroud came into the campaign with a rebuffed roster, jam packed with weapons all around him. Teams are giving the Texans their best shot on a weekly basis, and so far they have shown they can handle the pressure through the first eight weeks of the season. The problem is, they have been struck down by the injury bug. Their two best wide receivers have gone down with lengthy injury spells. They have been banged up on both sides of the ball. Joe Mixon went down early in the season, then the NFL’s leading receiver at one point in time, Nico Collins went to the IR. He came back last week, but Stefon Diggs went down with a season ending knee injury that will throw another curveball at Stroud and the Texans. So far they have held up, but they are having trouble scoring points in the second half. If this team is going to be a serious contender they are going to have to solve that second half stagnancy.

Where do we start with the Jets? The five game losing streak? The midseason coaching change? The drama surrounding Aaron Rodgers? Or the supposedly rock solid defense that has been shredded during the Jets losing skid? You can point the finger at any or all of those options. The fact of the matter is, something isn’t right in New York and it might be too late to fix it. Aaron Rodgers has thrown 7 TDs and 7 picks in the last five games. The defense is giving up almost 30 points a game over the last month, and the fans are slumping into that same miserable, hopeless feeling that they have grown all too accustomed to. You can’t turn the season around with one win, but it’s damn sure a better option than losing to the Texans and virtually being eliminated from the playoffs with half the season still in front of you.

This is one of the oldest franchises in NFL taking on the newest franchise in the NFL. Since the Texans joined the league in 2002, they have played the Jets 10 times. New York holds a 7-3 series advantage including their 30-6 win last October. That was one of the few happy moments for the Jets last year as they held Stroud to 91 yards passing while Zach Wilson went for 300 yards and two TDs.

Odds, Over/Under and money line

The Texans have gone 4-0 against the AFC, despite their injury problems but they come into the Thursday night match up as underdogs against the two win Jets. New York is a 1.5 point favorites (-1.5), and the Over/Under is set at 42.

Prediction

I get that the Texans are banged up, but I don’t get this spread. They are a much better team than the Jets, even with the their injuries. Diggs is out, and Collins isn’t himself just yet, but C.J. Stroud and Joe Mixon should be more than enough to lead the Texans to victory. This looks like one of those trap spreads, but I’m not falling for it.

Texans win 26-14.