The Houston Texans come into this game on a roll as they have won three games in a row but two of the games were against the winless Lions and Bengals.  The Vikings will pose a much tougher threat to the suddenly hot Texans.  The Vikings only allow 70.7 yards rushing per game and 2.9 yards per carry so Steve Slaton might not find much running room against them.  But, if Matt Schaub has time to throw the football the Texans should be able to put some points on the board in this game.  Andre Johnson has 593 yards receiving in his last four games and the Vikings allow 219.4 yards passing per game so the Texans will be exploiting this matchup as much as possible.  Kevin Walter and TE Owen Daniels are also good weapons in the mid-range game for the Texans.

The Vikings will come out running the football against the Texans to attempt to control the clock.  Adrian Peterson (684 yards rushing, 5 TDs) should have a big game against a Texans’ Defense that is allowing 119.6 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.  The Vikings must protect Gus Frerotte from DE Mario Williams (7 sacks) if he’s going to have time to throw the ball downfield to Bobby Wade and Bernard Berrian.

PREDICTION:  MINNESOTA VIKINGS 30, HOUSTON TEXANS 27

This should be a interesting football game that should be very high scoring.  The Colts are now healthy on the offensive line and that should give Peyton Manning more confidence in the pocket.  The Texans might be playing without both of their starting safeties so look for Manning to throw deep a lot to Reggie Wayne and Anthony Gonzalez.  If the Texans’ safeties start to cheat covering deep the Colts will then throw the ball underneath to Marvin Harrison, Dallas Clark and Joseph Addai out of the backfield.  DE Mario Williams must have a good game to give the DBs a decent chance of hanging with the receivers of the Colts.  The Colts would also like to get the running game into gear this week as Joseph Addai (142 yards, 3.3 ypc) has had a tough time running the ball this season.  The Texans are allowing 160.0 yards rushing per game and 4.8 ypc.

The Texans will have Ahman Green back this week but he will be backing up rookie Steve Slaton who should have a big game against the Colts who are allowing 199.3 yards rushing per game and 4.9 yards per carry.  The Texans will attempt to keep the ball on the ground and throw short passes to Andre Johnson, Owen Daniels and Kevin Walter to keep the clock running and the football away from the Colts’ high powered offense.

PREDICTION:  INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 34, HOUSTON TEXANS 30

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’ 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.