The Texans need a win and some help to make the playoffs for the first time in team history so they should be focused while the Patriots are playing for the #3 seed in the playoffs so it’s quite possible that they will take it easy tomorrow.  With the Patriots likely not completely motivated tomorrow the Texans should try to jump them immediately by throwing the ball down the field.  If the Texans give Schaub time to throw the ball he will likely combine with Andre Johnson to torture the Patriots’ secondary.  Look for Arian Foster to lend some ground support to Schaub in the game tomorrow.

The Texans won’t likely see much of Tom Brady tomorrow and if that is a fact they should be blitzing undrafted rookie QB Brian Hoyer a lot.  But, if the Patriots are resting their receivers too then they will likely lean on the running game.  That means that they will be challeging Pro Bowl linebackers Demeco Ryans and Brian Cushing with their very average set of RBs.

PREDICTION:  TEXANS 30, PATRIOTS 17

The Houston Texans still have a chance to make the playoffs if they can run the table and win their last three games.  It all starts tomorrow against the flu ravaged St. Louis Rams.  The Texans will come off the team bus throwing the football against a Rams’ D that is allowing 222.8 yards passing per game.  The Texans should give Matt Schaub a lot of time to survey the field as the Rams don’t rush the passer too well.  That means that Andre Johnson could have a huge game tomorrow!  It’s important that the Texans keep the pedal to the metal on offense to break the will of the Rams early tomorrow.  Arian Foster is getting a nice draw for his first NFL start against a Rams’ D that is allowing 147.2 yards rushing and 4.6 yards per carry this year.

The Texans will want to gang up on Steven Jackson tomorrow with Demeco Ryans and Brian Cushing likely following him all over the place.  If the Texans succeed in stopping the Rams’ running game that will put a lot of pressure on rookie QB Keith Null who will likely be starting his second game of his NFL career.  The Texans should really consider blitzing more than usual if Null is indeed the starting QB as he seemed puzzled last week throwing 5 interceptions in his NFL debut against the Titans last week.

PREDICTION:  TEXANS 38, RAMS 3

The Houston Texans (5-6) are on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars (6-5), a team they lost to 31-24 in week three.  These teams match up pretty evenly, and both offenses will find some success like they did in week three.  I expect Matt Schaub to have similar outing as the week 3 game, where he threw for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns.  The Texans will be without RB Steve Slaton, who was effective last time against the Jags rushing for 76 yards on 12 carries.  That means Chris Brown will probably get all of the carries and they will need a better effort than the 19 yards on 8 carries that he had in their last match-up.  If the Texans can get a good game out of Brown, they will probably win.

The Texans defense has not been very good this year at getting to quarterbacks, and when Jaguars’ quarterback David Garrard has time he is very accurate.  The Texans need to get some pressure on him and he will make mistakes.  The focus should be on Maurice Jones-Drew though, who killed the Texans last time for 119 yards and 3 touchdowns.  They cannot let him have a repeat performance or they will be on the losing end again.  I do think they will do a better job containing Jones-Drew this time, but he will still be effective no matter what they do, as they aren’t the strongest defense.  Neither defense is really that good, and I think the Texans have a better offense, so I think they can outscore the Jags this time around.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Houston Texans 28, Jacksonville Jaguars 21

The Houston Texans (5-5) are looking for revenge against the Indianapolis Colts (10-0) who barely beat them three weeks ago in Indianapolis.  The Texans should have sent that game into overtime if not for a missed field goal by their kicker Kris Brown with only seconds left.  The Texans will need a big game out of Matt Schaub if they want to win this one, and he needs to make sure he takes care of the ball like last week where he did not throw any interceptions.  It was the first time he did that since week two, and this will probably be another close game so they cannot afford any turnovers.  The running game has not been producing enough this year, and Steve Slaton is battling a neck injury, so that means even more pressure is on Schaub.

The Texans defense is going to have its hands full with Peyton Manning.  Manning has been great all season for the Colts, and this game will probably be no different.  Manning does have an injured glute though, so he may not be as effective as he usually is.  He will still be Peyton Manning though, and even without a good running game (only 85 rushing yards per game), Manning has lead the Colts this far without a loss.  It should be a close game, but I’m going to go with Manning and the Colts in this one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Houston Texans 17, Indianapolis Colts 24

The Houston Texans (5-4) are hosting the Tennessee Titans (3-6) for Monday Night Football.  The Texans need to be ready for a solid football team, as the Titans have turned their team around ever since Vince Young became the quarterback.  They have won three straight games and have been led by running back Chris Johnson.  Johnson is averaging 165 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Titans past three games and has been very hard to bring down.  The Texans need to shut him down and they will shut down the Titans.  That is a tough task though, as Vince Young can also take off and run with the ball.  He does a good job not turning the ball over either, with just one interception.

The Texans offense should be able to get a lot of yards through the air.  The Titans give up 270 passing yards per game and Matt Schaub has been leading the Texans’ offense to 280 passing yards per game.  Schaub has been having problems turning the ball over lately though, as he has 4 interceptions in the Texans’ past 2 games.  The Titans are going to try and keep the ball out of Schaubs’ hands as long as possible though, so if they can’t stop the Titans running game Schaub may not have enough opportunities, so I am taking the Titans in a close game.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Tennessee Titans 34, Houston Texans 28