The New York Jets‘ season thus far has been an abject disaster, yet their 2024 campaign isn’t fully off the rails. The 2-6 Jets can still salvage their 2024 season, but they need a victory in Thursday night’s game against the Houston Texans to keep it alive.
New York is on a five-game losing streak, tied for the longest losing streak Aaron Rodgers has ever had in his career. Rodgers has just 12 touchdowns through eight games, the fewest he’s ever had in his Hall of Fame career at this point in any season. The 85.1 passer rating through eight games is also the worst start for Rodgers.
C.J. Stroud will be making his “Thursday Night Football” debut, but the Texans will be limping at wide receiver. Stefon Diggs is out for the season with a torn ACL and Nico Collins is on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. Tank Dell, Robert Woods and Xavier Hutchinson will be the top wideouts for Houston for the foreseeable future.
Houston is looking to extend its AFC South lead and keep pace with the Kansas City Chiefs in the race for home-field advantage in the AFC. New York is just looking for a win to keep its season relevant. Here is our preview and sports betting prediction of the “Thursday Night Football” showdown.
Where to watch Texans at Jets
Aaron Rodgers’ career on ‘Thursday Night Football’
This clearly isn’t the same version of Rodgers the NFL saw before he tore his Achilles, yet Thursday is still one of Rodgers’ favorite days of the week. In his career on Thursday, Rodgers has completed 67% of his passes with 39 touchdowns to five interceptions and a 106.5 passer rating. Rodgers’ teams are 12-5 and he’s thrown for 262.6 yards per game.
Ironically, Rodgers’ last win was on a Thursday. Rodgers completed 77.1% of his passes for 281 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions for an 118.9 passer rating — looking like the Rodgers of old. The Jets quarterback has gone 30 consecutive games without throwing for 300+ yards and 17 straight games having three-or-less passing touchdowns.
The Jets could use the “Thursday” version of Rodgers this week, instead of the one they’ve been getting most of the year.
Texans wide receiver situation
The Texans will be down their top two wideouts in Nico Collins (hamstring) and Stefon Diggs (knee), which will be a huge test for C.J. Stroud on a short week. Tank Dell (24 catches, 229 yards, 2 TD) will be the top pass-catching option, followed by tight end Dalton Schultz (23 catches, 223 yards, 0 TD).
Robert Woods and Xavier Hutchinson have just 10 catches for 110 yards on the season, but more targets should be coming their way with the Texans depleted at wide receiver. The Texans may resort to the running game and Joe Mixon, who has 503 rushing yards through five games — the most for any player in franchise history in his first five games.
This will be a major test for the Texans offense, especially since the passing game will be going against Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed this week. May take a bit of an adjustment for Stroud.
Prediction
This isn’t exactly the best way either team heads into a Thursday game, making a winner tough to predict. The Jets are talented, but they are a discombobulated mess that just had their worst loss of the year to the New England Patriots. The Texans just had their No. 1 wide receiver (with Collins out) go down, giving them their top two wideouts being unavailable for the game.
The Texans’ depth at wide receiver will be tested. This one may be a game the defense has to get to Rodgers and test his mobility outside the pocket. As for the Jets, they need to play turnover-free football and actually get their run game going. New York is 29th in yards per carry (3.9) and 30th in rush yards per game (86.1).
Hard to believe in the Jets right now. Desperate teams are also dangerous too. Pick: Texans 26, Jets 24
Bonus: SportsLine expert Eric Cohen is leaning toward New York in this Thursday night game. You can find out more score predictions for Week 9 right here at SportsLine.