The Texans need a win in the worst way tomorrow against the Jaguars but they don’t match up well with them at all.  The Texans would be smart to come out passing against the Jaguars to try to get a quick lead on them and take them out of their running game on offense.  That will be easier said than done as the Texans have already allowed 8 sacks this season and Matt Schaub has thrown 5 interceptions this season.  Schaub will have to be careful when throwing the ball to WR Andre Johnson who will likely be covered all game long by Rashean Mathis.  With that in mind look for him to keep the passing game short and for him to use TE Owen Daniels and Kevin Walter a lot.  Rookie RB Steve Slaton will also get a lot of touches for the Texans and that’s a good thing for the Texans against a Jags’ defense that is allowing 108.7 yards rushing and 4.2 yards per carry this season.

The Jaguars have to be foaming at the mouth watching game film of the Texans’ run defense which is allowing 168.5 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry this season.  With that in mind look for the Texans to have to deal with a heavy dose of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew.  Look for QB David Garrard to also have his best game of the season as he should be efficient throwing the ball against mostly single coverage as the Texans will go all out to stop the Jags’ running game.

PREDICTION:  JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 27, HOUSTON TEXANS 13

The Houston Texans are upset at the play of Matt Schaub so far this season.  He has started both games for the Texans this season and he has completed 42 of 70 passes (60%) for 390 yards with 1 TD pass and 5 interceptions (50.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the football 5 times for 16 yards (3.2 ypc) with a TD run.  With Sage Rosenfels waiting in the wings Schaub better play well tomorrow against the Jaguars or he could be holding a clipboard next week when the Texans play the Colts.

The Texans really stunk it up against the Titans last Sunday.  Matt Schaub looked lost again in this game completing 17 of 37 passes for 188 yards with 0 TD passes and 3 interceptions (one was returned 99 yards for a TD by CB Cortland Finnegan).  Steve Slaton made his starting debut for the Texans and he was solid.  He carried the ball 18 times for 116 yards (6.4 ypc) with a TD run.  He also added 4 catches for 8 yards (2.0 avg) in this game.  TE Owen Daniels led the Texans in the passing game with 4 catches for 71 yards (17.8 avg).  The Texans finished up with 146 yards rushing on 28 carries (5.2 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 37 passes for 171 yards.

The defense wasn’t much better for the Texans in this game.  Linebacker DeMeco Ryans did his part in this game with 13 tackles and a fumble recovery.  S Will Demps and LB Zach Diles pitched in with 8 tackles apiece in this game.  The Titans finished up with 154 yards rushing on 36 carries (4.3 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 26 passes for 189 yards.  The Texans are now 0-2 on the season with this loss.

The Houston Texans’ fans hate the Tennessee Titans who used to be the Oilers so the team should be up for this game.  The Texans were swept last season but they were outscored 66-56 showing that the teams were pretty evenly matched.  The Texans would like to run the football to help set up the passing game but that’s not likely to work against the Titans’ defense which is only allowing 60.5 yards rushing per game and 2.7 ypc.  Still, rookie Steve Slaton will be making his first NFL start and he will do his best to make a good impression on the coaching staff.  The Titans’ defense already has 8 sacks and 4 interceptions in two games this season so Matt Schaub will have to be careful with the football.  Still, look for Schaub to attack the corners of the Titans with Andre Johnson and the safeties with TE Owen Daniels.

Look for the Titans to attack the Texans’ defense the same way the Steelers did in week #1.  They will run the ball with Chris Johnson (202 yards rushing, 5.9 ypc) and LenDale White (99 yards rushing, 2 TDs) against a porous run defense that allowed the Steelers to get 183 yards rushing against them.  After the running game is established, look for Kerry Collins to attack the Texans’ defense with play action passes to WR Justin Gage and TE Bo Scaife.

PREDICTION:  TENNESSEE TITANS 24, HOUSTON TEXANS 16

The game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans has been postponed due to the damage caused by Hurricane Ike.  It will be replayed on November 9th in Houston.  The Texans and Ravens both had officially had their byes moved up to this week and that’s too early but the Texans refused to play the game anywhere but Houston.

The Texans have placed DE Stanley McClover on the Injured Reserve List with a bad knee.  McClover played in 11 games for the Panthers last season and he made 8 tackles and had 1 sack.  The Texans won’t miss McClover much in 2008.

The Texans will be without starting running back Ahman Green for a while with a high ankle sprain.  He carried the ball 5 times for 28 yards (5.6 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 3 yards in the season opener against the Steelers.  The Texans will be going with a young trio of running backs starting this week against the Ravens.  Rookie Steve Slaton will be the main man in the running game as long as he plays well.  He carried the ball 13 times for 43 yards (3.3 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 6 yards against the Steelers.  Slaton has a lot of speed but he’s on the small side so it will be interesting to see how he handles the pounding that he’s going to get.  Chris Taylor will likely handle the short yardage situations and the Texans’ have added Darius Walker off of the practice squad.

This game definately wasn’t as close as the final score indicates as the Texans were down 35-3 after three quarters when the Steelers called the dogs off.  Matt Schaub completed 25 of 33 passes for 202 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions.  He did not play well at all in the first three quarters of this football game.  Ahman Green carried the football 5 times for 28 yards (5.6 ypc) before getting dinged up in this game.  Rookie Steve Slaton followed him into the game as he was tough carrying the ball 13 times for 43 yards (3.3 ypc) and he also added 3 grabs for 6 yards (2.0 avg) in his NFL Debut.  Andre’ Johnson did most of his damage in the 4th quarter of this game as he caught 10 passes for 102 yards (10.2 avg).  Kevin Walter pitched in with 3 catches for 41 yards (13.7 avg) with a TD grab against the Steelers.  The Texans finished this game with 75 yards rushing on 20 carries (3.8 ypc) and they also completed 25 of 33 passes for 159 yards.

The Texans’ Defense was equally awful against both the pass and the run last Sunday against the Steelers.  Linebacker Zac Diles led the way for the Texans on Defense with 13 tackles.  Fellow linebacker DeMeco Ryans was all over the field also as he finished with 12 tackles and a fumble recovery.  DE Mario Williams was effective in rushing the passer with 2 sacks and 6 tackles.  The Steelers finished up this game with 183 yards rushing on 39 carries (4.7 ypc) and they also completed 13 of 18 passes for 122 yards.  The Texans are a much better football team than they showed last Sunday against the Steelers and hopefully they will start showing that this week.

I would definately bet the over with the Texans who are a team on the rise.  They do play in a tough division but don’t sell this improving young team short.  I think they will finish in third place in the AFC South ahead of the Titans as they will win more than half of their games for the first time in team history.

The Texans have signed veteran safety Eugene Wilson.  Wilson played in 11 games (6 starts) for the Patriots last season and he made 31 tackles, defensed 3 passes and he intercepted a pass that he returned for a TD.  He was cut in training camp by the Bucs but the Texans needed some depth at the position so this move made perfect sense for them.  Wilson has now played in 62 games (55 starts) in his NFL career and he has made 251 tackles, has defensed 19 passes and he has intercepted 10 passes (1 TD return).