NFL 2021 Season: New York Jets at Houston Betting Analysis

Two teams playing out the season to attain a high draft pick will meet this Sunday at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, as the Houston Texans will play host to the New York Jets. The Texans are 2-8 on the season and are tied for last place in the AFC South. The Texans are coming off a huge upset victory of the top seed in the AFC Playoffs, the Tennessee Titans. The Jets are also 2-8 on the season and last place in the AFC East. They are 0-5 away from MetLife Stadium this year. With that in mind, let’s see how both teams arrive to this Jets versus Texans matchup so you can place your bets against their NFL odds.

NFL Betting Preview for NY Jets vs Houston Texans

New York Jets Betting Analysis

While the Jets haven’t gotten much good news this season, they did hear some this week, as starting quarterback Zach Wilson will return from injury to make a start. However, good news usually comes bad, as rookie running back Michael Carter will miss this one with an ankle injury. Tevin Coleman and Ty Johnson will hold down the fort in Carter’s absence.

Before taking the Jets head coaching job, Robert Saleh had been one of the league’s best defensive minds. This season, Saleh has caught a lot of heat for how bad the Jets defense has played. This unit has been historically bad. They have a very little pass rush, and they are a very young unit in general. Jets fans will have to be patient as this young group finds its way. We expect the Jets to look to make a lot of defensive improvements in the offseason.

Houston Texans Betting Preview

Houston has looked better since starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor returned from his hamstring injury. After winning their first game of the season, they lost seven in a row, and then their huge upset of the Titans last weekend. Brandin Cooks is their top receiver, while it looks like David Johnson will be the man in the backfield after Houston traded Mark Ingram and released Phillip Lindsey. Houston is averaging less than 20 points per game, so we’ll see how their anemic offense fares against the worst defense in the league.

The Texans‘ defense isn’t far behind the Jets in terms of giving up points. They have also been one of the worst units in the league. They’ll see a rookie quarterback who has thrown his fair share of interceptions this season, so this should be a good matchup on both sides of the ball.

Prediction

Coming off of their upset win, the oddsmakers have deemed the Texans the better team and have made them three-point favorites in this AFC matchup. In looking at the betting numbers, it doesn’t give us much to go by for either team. The Jets are 7-19 against the spread in their last 26 against teams with a losing record. Houston is 4-10-1 against the spread in its last 15 games as the favorite. However, the Texans are 4-1 against the spread in their previous five games at NRG Stadium.

We think that the Texans are the better team and that they’ll win the game and cover the spread. It may not be a pretty game, and both teams will walk away with a victory. The loser will move up the draft board, while the winner will move up the standings.

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