NFL Opening Day Lines: New York Jets vs. Houston Texans

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The New York Jets will be in Houston to open their 2009 NFL season to take on the Houston Texans. The game will be played on Sunday September 13th at 1:00 P.M. (EST). The Jets have opened their season on the road two of the last three seasons winning both games. Houston on the other hand has only won once in the last five seasons on opening day. The current odd have the Texans listed as a 4 point favorite and the over/under is set at 43.

This will be an intriguing match -up as both teams come into this season with a number of question marks on just how good will they will be. Houston desperately needs to get off to a good start as last season they stumbled to a 0-4 record and never recovered finishing 8-8 for the year. Behind veteran QB Matt Schaub they were third in the league in total offence but only averaged 22.9 points per game. They relied heavily on their defense to keep the games close, but inconsistency in scoring in the red zone cost them dearly.

The Jets, behind veteran QB Brett Favre jumped out to an 8-3 record only to falter down the stretch finishing 9-7 and missing the playoffs. Gone is head coach Eric Mangini and QB Brett Favre and in their place is the former defensive coordinator for Baltimore, Rex Ryan and QB Mark Sanchez, a 1st round draft pick out of USC.

This game is shaping up to be a defensive battle. Rex Ryan is known for his attack style defense and the Texans have a bend, don’t break mentality that keeps opposing offenses out of the end zone. This could be compounded if Sanchez gets the start for the Jets, as he will most likely struggle. That being said, the under 43 is looking pretty good. Not knowing what to expect from either of these teams, I see a close game that may be decided by a field goal at the end.

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