The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 9 matchup between the Texans and Jets on Thursday Night Football.
Find a breakdown of every Week 9 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.
Houston | Rank | @ | NY Jets | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
2.0 | Spread | -2.0 | ||
20.25 | Implied Total | 22.25 | ||
23.5 | 14 | Points/Gm | 18.8 | 25 |
22.4 | 15 | Points All./Gm | 21.3 | 11 |
65.4 | 1 | Plays/Gm | 60.9 | 23 |
58.5 | 6 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 61.1 | 15 |
5.4 | 16 | Off. Yards/Play | 5.1 | 23 |
4.8 | 4 | Def. Yards/Play | 4.7 | 2 |
42.07% | 21 | Rush% | 36.35% | 29 |
57.93% | 12 | Pass% | 63.65% | 4 |
41.88% | 13 | Opp. Rush % | 49.49% | 27 |
58.12% | 20 | Opp. Pass % | 50.51% | 6 |
- Houston has led at the half in seven of their eight games, the most in the NFL.
- The average length of touchdowns allowed by the Jets is 8.4 yards, second in the NFL.
- The average length of touchdowns allowed by the Texans is 19.6 yards, 31st in the NFL.
- 41.9% of the possessions against the Jets fail to gain a first down, the highest rate in the league.
- Opponents have punted on 45.7% of their possessions against the Texans, the fourth-highest rate in the league.
- The Jets allow 4.2 yards per play on first down, the fewest in the NFL.
- The Texans allow 5.0 yards per play on first down, 5th in the league.
- The Jets have a 65.2% success rate against passing play, the highest rate in the league.
- Houston is second with a 64.0% success rate against passing plays.
Trust = spike production for that player
Quarterback
C.J. Stroud: Stroud threw for 285 yards on Sunday, more yardage than he had thrown for in the previous two weeks combined (287 yards).
He threw for 7.7 yards per pass attempt after weeks of 6.2 Y/A and 4.1 Y/A in Weeks 6 and 7.
Unfortunately, the fantasy points did not follow suit.
Stroud closed the week as QB25 (12.4 points), his second week in a row outside the top-20 scorers.
He now only has two QB1 scoring weeks on the season and is 22nd in passing points per attempt (0.428).
He has one or fewer passing touchdowns in five of his past seven games.
Already down Nico Collins for another week, Houston will be without Stefon Diggs here.
Given the injuries at wide receiver and his recent output, Stroud is a QB2 for fantasy.
This matchup is not great on top of things.
The Jets have shown more vulnerability in recent weeks by allowing multiple passing touchdowns to Josh Allen and Russell Wilson in two of their past three games, but the only QB1 scoring weeks they have allowed this season have included a rushing touchdown tacked on by the quarterback.
The Jets only allow 9.9 passing points per game, which is third in the league.
Stroud was forced from last year’s game between these teams, but before exiting, he was 10-of-23 (43.5%) for 91 yards (4.0 Y/A).
Aaron Rodgers: Rodgers turned in a solid line against New England for the second time this season, throwing for 8.3 yards per attempt (his second-highest rate in a game this year) with 2 passing touchdowns.
A high-scoring week overall kept him at QB17 (17.3 points), but that was his third-highest-scoring game of the season.
Rodgers has multiple touchdown passes in five of his past seven games, but he only has one top-10 scoring week on the season.
He remains a floor-based QB2 for fantasy.
Houston has been a mixed bag defensively against the pass.
They have allowed a league-low 53.1% completion rate, but when they have allowed completions, they have allowed big plays.
Houston has allowed 11.6 yards per completion (27th) and a 6.5% touchdown rate (31st), ahead of only the Panthers.
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Running Back
Breece Hall: After two high-workload games following the coaching changes, Hall was used more sparingly this past weekend against the Patriots.
He still managed 17 touches for 89 yards, but after handling 88.5% and 81.8% of the backfield touches in Weeks 7 and 8, he accounted for 58.6% this weekend.
Braelon Allen had more touches in the first half (8) than Hall (6).
Hall split snaps inside the five-yard line with Allen (two apiece) while Allen snaked a goal-line touchdown on one of those plays.
That was Allen’s first touch inside of the five this season, so we will keep tabs on his involvement in that area of the field moving forward.
Outside of losing a scoring opportunity to Allen, Hall was not active in the passing game.
After games of 5-56-0 (6 targets) and 6-103-0 (9 targets), Hall caught 1-of-3 targets for 9 yards on Sunday.
When the Jets last played on Thursday Night Football back in Week 3, Hall handled a season-low 54.1% of the backfield touches.
We know the ceiling is high, but Hall’s usage has been up and down all season, making him a boom-or-bust RB1.
Houston has allowed 4.1 yards per carry to running backs (9th) and 11.3 rushing points per game to backfields (9th), but they have allowed three productive games to lead backs over the past month when those backs have stacked touches and scoring opportunities.
James Cook handled 22 touches for 99 yards and a touchdown in Week 5.
Josh Jacobs had 17 touches for 92 yards and a touchdown in Week 7.
Jonathan Taylor had 21 touches for 117 yards and a touchdown last week.
Joe Mixon: Mixon was a workhorse again on Sunday, turning 29 touches into 134 yards and another score against the Colts.
He has racked up 90% and 93.6% of the backfield touches the past two games, handling 33, 15, 27, and 29 touches over his four complete games this season.
Mixon has been more explosive than ever to open his time with the Texans with a run of 10 or more yards on 15.7% of his attempts this season.
If it remains sticky for the rest of the season, that would be a career-high. It ranks fifth in the league among running backs with 50-plus attempts this season.
Mixon is second in the NFL with 54 runs out of 12 personnel.
He has averaged 5.7 YPC on those plays with an explosive run on 16.7% of those attempts.
Mixon already has 71 runs this season with his quarterback under center. Last year, he had 63 total.
Mixon will look to stay busy as a workhorse RB1 against a New York defense that has been spotty the past few weeks defending backs.
They limited Rhamondre Stevenson to 65 yards on 23 touches on Sunday, but Stevenson found the end zone twice.
The Jets allowed 161 yards and a touchdown to the Pittsburgh backfield in Week 7 and 186 yards to the Buffalo backfield that was missing James Cook in Week 6.
Wide Receiver
Garrett Wilson: Wilson snagged 5-of-8 targets for 113 yards on Sunday. It was his third 100-yard game over the past four weeks.
Since acquiring Davante Adams, Wilson has received 23.1% and 32.0% of the team targets.
Wilson played a season-high 82.1% of his snaps out wide without Allen Lazard last week.
Houston has been better defending outside receivers this season, allowing 7.9 yards per target (12th) and a 4.1% touchdown rate (12th).
They have allowed only a 55.7% catch rate to those wideouts (6th) but 14.1 yards per catch (23rd) when allowing completions.
Wilson is an upside WR2.
Davante Adams: Adams has opened up his time with the Jets with games of 3-30-0 (9 targets) and 4-54-0 (6 targets).
Regardless of team, Adams has one week this season as a WR3 or better for fantasy purposes.
He has 23.1% and 24.0% of the targets with the Jets, but Adams is being asked to win more in the short game.
Since joining the team, he has been in the slot for 50.9% and 41.5% of his snaps.
In his three games with the Raiders, he played in the slot 26.3%, 25%, and 26.8% of the time.
With that, Adams only has 22.2% and 20.4% of the team’s air yards after a 39.1% rate with the Raiders.
Adams is best used as a WR3 for fantasy, but that slot role could aid him here if you are looking for Adams to find the end zone for the first time with the Jets.
The Texans have allowed 14.1 yards per catch to slot receivers (30th) with a league-high 13.5% touchdown rate to those receivers.
Slot receivers have 7 touchdowns against Houston, the most in the NFL.
Tank Dell: Dell only had four catches for 35 yards on Sunday, but he managed to get into the end zone for the second time in three weeks to smooth out what he could.
Everything for Dell has been down this season compared to his rookie year.
He is averaging only 1.0 yards per route run after 2.22 last season.
He has been targeted on 16.7% of his routes after 23.5% last season.
Despite his limited runout this year, Dell is the last man standing this week with Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs out of the lineup.
Dell has only run 33 routes this season with Diggs off the field but has been targeted on 21.2% of those with 2.06 yards per route.
After Diggs exited Sunday, Dell was targeted on 25% of his routes.
While Collins' and Diggs' absences add volume potential for Dell as an option on the WR2/WR3 line, this is still a tough matchup on paper.
Dell still played outside receiver with Diggs out, and we have not seen him play from the slot often to open his career.
The Jets have allowed a league-low 48.8% catch rate to outside receivers and are second in the league in points allowed (13.2 per game) to outside receivers.
Texans WRs: This receiver room is banged up, giving John Metchie, Xavier Hutchinson, and Robert Woods an extra pulse for single-game DFS.
Metchie had 40% of the targets after Diggs left Sunday’s game, catching 3-of-4 targets for 29 yards, but he ran fewer routes (5) than both Hutchinson (7) and Woods (6) after Diggs left the game.
Hutchinson was ahead of Metchie and Woods all game, running 25 routes compared to 8 for Metchie and 7 for Woods.
But Hutchinson only had 1 target (1 catch for 19 yards) while Woods had 2 targets (two catches for 18 yards).
Tight End
Dalton Schultz: Schultz is coming off a season-high 52 yards on Sunday, catching 4-of-6 targets.
With all of the shakeup at wide receiver, Schultz is set up to have a more significant role in the passing game.
Schultz has been targeted on 17.5% of his routes with Collins off the field compared to a 12.7% rate with Collins on the field.
With Diggs now also out, Schultz has more of a target opportunity as a streamer if you were starting George Kittle or Pat Freiermuth (or just throwing a dart here).
The Jets are middle-of-the-pack against tight ends, ranking 15th in points allowed per target to the position.
Tyler Conklin: Conklin grabbed 3-of-4 targets for 42 yards and a touchdown on Sunday.
Since the team added Adams, Conklin has only seen 4 targets in each game, but he has gotten into the end zone both weeks.
As a touchdown-dependent fantasy option, Conklin runs into a touchdown-or-bust defense guarding the position.
Houston has allowed a league-low 4.1 yards per target to tight ends but has allowed a 7.3% touchdown rate to the position (27th).

More Week 9 Fantasy Breakdowns From The Worksheet:
Matchup | Time |
---|---|
Texans @ Jets -- FREE | Thursday Night Football |
Cowboys @ Falcons | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
Dolphins @ Bills | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
Raiders @ Bengals | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
Chargers @ Browns | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
Patriots @ Titans | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
Commanders @ Giants | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
Saints @ Panthers | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
Broncos @ Ravens | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
Jaguars @ Eagles | Sunday -- 4:05 p.m. ET |
Bears @ Cardinals | Sunday -- 4:05 p.m. ET |
Lions @ Packers | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
Rams @ Seahawks | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
Colts @ Vikings | Sunday Night Football |
Bucs @ Chiefs -- FREE | Monday Night Football |