Eagles v Texans Tips, Preview and Odds

The Houston Texans will look to produce the biggest shock of the NFL season so far, as they welcome the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles to NRG Stadium for Thursday Night Football.

This season has already seen a great number of surprises. Who could have possibly foreseen the Atlanta Falcons, sans Matt Ryan, top of the NFC East after eight games? Or the demise of Aaron Rodgers’ Packers and Tom Brady’s Bucs? Who would have thought that the Jets, Giants and Seahawks would all be legit play-off contenders? And the less we talk about Russell Wilson and the Broncos, the better.

Perhaps the biggest bombshell of all, though, is that Jalen Hurts and the Eagles are sitting on a 7-0 record.

The truth Hurts

One of the main reasons for Philly’s incredible start has been the sheer improvement in their third-year quarterback, Jalen Hurts.

In his first season, Hurts completed just 52% of his 148 pass attempts and finished with a meagre passer rating of 77.6. With each year, though, the young signal caller has made vast improvements. Last season, he jumped to a 61% completion rate and a passer rating of 87.2, while the leap has been astronomical this year.

Allow me to give you a few more passing stats. In 2022, Hurts boasts a 67% completion rate, 8.5 yards per attempt, ten touchdown passes, just two interceptions, and a passer rating of 105.1. Only Tua Tagovailoa, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Geno Smith (I know, right?) have a higher rating this year.

It was perhaps just last week, though, that Hurts finally announced himself as a true passing threat, rather than a quarterback who was at his most lethal when running the ball.

In the Eagles’ win over the Steelers, he threw for 285 yards and four touchdowns, with a passer rating of 140.6. AJ Brown - another huge reason for Philly’s big upgrade this year - was the main beneficiary, catching three of the four touchdowns and racking up a monster 156 yards.

Cooks goes cryptic

The Texans are the antithesis of the Eagles right now. Whereas Philly are of course the top seed in the NFC as things stand, Houston sit dead last in the AFC rankings. Only the Detroit Lions, at 1-6, have a worse record in the NFL than the Texans.

At least the Lions are actually fun to watch. Houston, meanwhile, have lost five of their last six games, with their only win coming in a 13-6 snoozefest against the Jaguars.

The positive for Texans fans is that Davis Mills still has Brandin Cooks at receiver for the rest of the year. The team tried to trade the wideout but to no avail, mainly due to the massive $18 million guaranteed salary next season.

The ninth-year veteran had this to say on Tuesday on Twitter, three minutes after the trade deadline had passed: “Don’t take a man’s kindness for granted. Covered for the lies for too long those days are done. Crossed the line with playing with my career 🏹”. Who knows what that could possibly mean?

Cooks has nonetheless been pretty underwhelming this season, with rookie running back Dameon Pierce taking over as the centrepiece of the Houston offense. The fourth-round pick in this year’s draft has already gained 539 rushing yards and has also made multiple receptions in each of his last five games.

If the Texans hope to get anything at all from this matchup, Pierce will have to improve on the 2.3 yards per carry he managed last week against Tennessee.

Eagles should run for fun

Hurts and the Eagles offense should have a field day in this match-up, as the Texans D is currently giving up more than 400 yards per game. It’s on the ground where they are being punished most, allowing a truly staggering 186 rushing yards per game - the most in the league by 30 yards.

This should benefit two Philly players very nicely - Hurts, who has 303 rushing yards this season, and Miles Sanders, another Eagles player who’s in the midst of a big breakout year. The fourth-year running back is well on his way to over 1,000 yards on the ground in 2022. Back him to add to his five touchdowns on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Philly are giving up fewer than 300 yards per game - one of just four teams in the league to be doing so - and just 16.9 points per match, which is again the fourth-best record in the NFL. Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson has arguably been the biggest playmaker for the defense this year. He’s made four interceptions, all of which have come in the last three games.

On both sides of the ball, the Eagles should be far too much for Houston. I expect a blowout here, so add Philly against the spread to the Miles Sanders anytime touchdown scorer bet.