One of my favorite things, and I suspect I’m not alone, to do every year when the NFL schedule is released is to go through a team’s game-by-game schedule and figure out wins and losses. I also realize it is an exercise in stupidity.
There has never been more proof of this than this season, when everyone except the Patriots and Bengals seems to be right around .500 in the AFC. This week’s Jets game against the Texans is the perfect example of one that would have been viewed as a tough one in April for the Jets, an easy game in October and now looks somewhere in the middle.
The expectations in the offseason were high for the Texans with a stout defense, Brian Hoyer at quarterback and Arian Foster in the backfield. Three weeks ago, when they gave up 44 points to the Dolphins, the Texans looked like a joke. On the same day, the Jets were playing the Patriots tough in Foxborough. It looked as if you could count this week as a win for the Jets.
But the Texans’ defense woke up and has not allowed a touchdown in its past 10 quarters. Houston beat the previously undefeated Bengals in Cincinnati on Monday night. The Jets, meanwhile, have looked very beatable since that day in Foxborough, losing to the Raiders and Bills and beating the Jaguars in unimpressive fashion.
The Texans likely will have backup quarterback T.J. Yates playing this week as Hoyer deals with a concussion, further muddying the waters. This game felt a lot easier to pick in April.