The Houston Texans (1-2) lost at home today to the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2) and the run defense was terrible once again.  The Texans, who have the worst run-defense in the NFL, gave up 184 yards to the Jaguars today.  Jaguars’ running back Maurice Jones-Drew had 119 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries (5.2 avg).  The Texans let Jones-Drew explode for a 61-yard touchdown run late in the first half.  They also let David Garrard go for a 30-yard run in the first quarter, so the Texans defense is letting way too many big plays occur on the ground.

The Texans offense looked very good in the first half, as they went into the break leading 21-17.  Matt Schaub threw three touchdown passes in the first half, but the Jaguars defense settled in in the second half and held Schaub and the Texans offense in check.  Schaub had a pretty strong game as he went for 300 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception on 26/35 attempts (74%).  The Texans were only able to get three more points the rest of the game and got nothing in the fourth quarter.

The Texans had plenty of opportunities to win this game though and it looked like they tied it late in the 4th quarter when Schaub hit Joel Dreessen in the end-zone with under three minutes to play in the game.  The touchdown was called back though, as Kevin Walter was called for offensive pass interference.  The Texans still had the ball and a chance to tie the game but running back Chris Brown fumbled the ball on the goal line and Daryl Smith recovered for a touch-back.

It was a controversial call and was challenged, but the play stood and the Jaguars were able to run out the clock and win the game.  The Texan’s defense has got a lot of problems, especially with stopping the run.  They have given up at least one big play on the ground every game so far, and they are not going to win very many games if this keeps up.

The Houston Texans (1-1) are hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2) this week at Reliant Stadium.  The Texans are looking to build off a big win against the Tennessee Titans last week and the Jaguars are still looking for the first win of the year.  The Texans passing offense has been great and quarterback Matt Schaub has been leading that attack extremely well.  After only amounting 166 passing yards in their week one loss to the New York Jets, Schaub put up 357 yards and four touchdowns on the Titans defense in their week two win.

The Jaguars defense has been pretty bad so far this season, as they have failed to get any pressure on the quarterbacks and have been missing tackles left and right.  Arizona Cardinals’ quarterback Kurt Warner was able to break the completion percentage record last week as he went 24-26 against the Jaguars.  This is a great thing for the Texans, because when Schaub has time he has proven he is a good quarterback, and the Texans offensive line should not have a problem protecting him.

The Texans defense has been just as bad as the Jaguars though, as they have given up 55 points in two games and are last in total defense as they have given up an average of 455.5 yards a game.  Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew has not really gotten it going yet this year, but he is probably going to do some damage this game against the weak Texans defense.  Garrard hasn’t done anything yet this  year either, and has fumbled three times already.  So, if the Texans can get some pressure on Garrard he may cough it up.

This will probably be a high scoring battle, with the offenses shooting it out against each other.  I think the Texans have a more explosive offense and Schaub proved he can put up some big numbers, so I think the Texans are going to be able to outscore the Jaguars and win this game.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Texans 38, Jaguars 31

Steve Slaton has been terrible this season and he is in danger of losing carries to Chris Brown.  Slaton has carried the ball 26 times for 51 yards (2.0 ypc) this season.  He has also caught 6 passes for 60 yards (10.0 avg) this year.  He has fumbled the ball three times already this season (lost one of them).  Coach Kubiak has been very tough on Slaton as he wants the kid to play like he did last year.  The Texans are only averaging 50.5 yards rushing per game this season and that just won’t get the job done.

The Texans have signed 24-year old safety Bernard Pollard to a 1-year deal.  Pollard played in all 16 games for the Chiefs last season and he made 98 tackles, defensed 1 pass, forced 3 fumbles and he picked off a pass.  Pollard has played in 48 games in his career and he has made 199 tackles, defensed 9 passes, has 1 sack, forced 5 fumbles and he has 3 interceptions.  A big reason the Texans brought him in is because he packs a punch against the running game.  The Texans have allowed a whopping 215.0 yards rushing per game this season.

The Texans have lost starting left guard Chester Pitts for the season due to microfracture surgery on his knee and MCL surgery.  This is a big blow to the Texans who were only averaging 50.5 yards rushing per game this season.  Kasey Studdard will step in for Pitts and the Texans are confident that he can do a decent job for them.

The Texans really showed some heart in this football game as they traded punches with the Titans before winning the game on a 23-yard field goal by Kris Brown.  Matt Schaub had a game for the ages in Tennessee yesterday as he completed 25 of 39 passes for 357 yards with 4 TD passes and 0 interceptions.  Schaub had to be great in this game as Steve Slaton didn’t have much room to operate.  He carried the ball 17 times for 34 yards (2.0 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 25 yards (8.3 avg).  It’s amazing to me that the Titans didn’t double Andre Johnson more often as he caught 10 passes for 149 yards (14.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  TE Owen Daniels did the dirty work on the inside catching 6 passes for 72 yards (12.0 avg) with a TD.  Little used Jacoby Jones also had a good game catching 2 passes for 73 yards (36.5 avg) with a TD.  The Texans had possession of the football for 34:03 of this game as they finished with 420 total yards on offense (63 rushing, 357 passing).

LBs Brian Cushing (10 tackles, pass defensed) and Demeco Ryans (9 tackles) led a poor effort by the Texans’ D in this game.  The Titans ran for 240 yards in this game (9.2 ypc) as RB Charles Johnson torched them for 197 rushing and 87 yards receiving scoring 3 TDs.  The Titans also passed for 209 yards in this game.  Depsite the defensive problems yesterday the Titans improved to 1-1 on the season with a huge division win.

This game is always a hard hitting one as the Titans used to be the Houston Oilers a long time ago.  It will be interesting to see what gives when Steve Slaton lines up against a Titans’ D that only allowed the Steelers 36 yards on 23 carries (1.6 ypc) last week.  Still, the Texans will be feeding Slaton the football as he carried the ball 42 times in two games against the Titans last season for 216 yards (5.1 ypc).  The Texans need Slaton to have a good game running the ball or the Titans will be sending everyone after Matt Schaub when he drops back to throw the ball.  The Titans had 4 sacks against the Steelers last week.  If Schaub has time to throw the ball he will likely have some success getting the ball to WR Andre Johnson down the field.  The Texans really need to have WR Kevin Walter available for this game so that he and Owen Daniels can take some of the pressure off of Johnson.

The Titans will probably come out focused but ready to punch the Texans in the mouth due to the extra rest they got this week.  The Titans will likely go back to the running game this week with Chris Johnson and LenDale White against a Texans’ D that allowed 190 yards rushing and 4.5 ypc last week against the Jets.  Veteran QB Kerry Collins will also likely have a solid game for the Titans as long as they keep DE Mario Williams of the Texans away from him.  Rookie WR Kenny Britt and Justin Gage both are looking quite dependable and they could have big games if the Titans need them to.  The Titans beat the Texans 31-12 last year in Tennessee and this game could look a lot like last season.

PREDICTION:  TITANS 27, TEXANS 17

Many draft “experts” drilled the Texans for taking DE Mario Williams over Reggie Bush.  Lucky for the Texans’ front office that they new more than the experts did.  Williams got off to a good start last week against the Jets as he had 7 tackles and defensed a pass.  Williams has now played in 49 games for the Texans and he has made 166 tackles, defensed 5 passes, has 30.5 sacks and he has forced 7 fumbles.  Williams still has more upside so he could turn into a dominator on defense for the Texans.

The Texans really laid a egg yesterday.  Matt Schaub did not play well as he completed 18 of 33 passes for 166 yards with 1 interception.  Steve Slaton also had a game to forget as he carried the ball 9 times for 17 yards (1.9 ypc).  He also caught 3 passes for 35 yards (11.7 avg) and lost a fumble.  Owen Daniels (44 yards) and Andre Johnson (35 yards) each caught 4 passes apiece in this game to lead the way for the Texans.  The Texans finished up with only 183 total yards on offense (38 rushing, 145 passing) and they only had possession of the ball for 21:14 of this game.

Linebackers Brian Cushing and Demeco Ryans led the way for the Texans in this game with 8 tackles apiece.  The only good play of the whole game for the Texans was when John Busing intercepted a Mark Sanchez’ pass returning it 14 for fumbling it.  Dominique Barber then recovered the fumble returning it 48 yards for a TD.  The Jets finished up with 462 total yards on offense (190 rushing, 272 passing) in this game.

This should be a very fascinating football game in Houston tomorrow.  The Jets will try to win with a running game and defense while the Texans will just try to outscore the Jets.  Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan will likely try to protect Mark Sanchez in his first NFL start.  That means the offense will lean on Thomas Jones, Leon Washington and Shonn Greene against a Texans’ D that allowed 122.6 yards rushing per game.  If the Jets are effective running the football then look for a few play action passes deep to Jerricho Cotchery.

The Texans will want to keep the offense balanced against a Jets’ D that will likely be blitzing when they get off the team bus.  With Matt Schaub being gimpy the Texans might prefer to keep the passing game short to Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter and TE Owen Daniels.  But, Steve Slaton will also get the ball a lot on the ground and if he wins his battles against LBs David Harris and Bart Scott the Jets will be in trouble.

PREDICTION:  HOUSTON TEXANS 23, NEW YORK JETS 20