'Thursday Night Football' at Metlife Stadium this week pits one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history against one of its rising stars.
Aaron Rodgers, a Super Bowl winner and four-time MVP, will look to help the Jets turn around their season. New York, a playoff contender entering the year, has dropped four straight matchups. C.J. Stroud, meanwhile, has Houston rolling. The Texans are 6-2, first in the AFC South division, and have won four of their last five games thanks largely to the rising star signal-caller.
Will the Texans' success continue in a crucial road game? Or will the Jets right the ship and get back to winning ways?
Stay with NBC News all night for live updates.
End of first quarter: Jets 0, Texans 0
Still scoreless after one quarter in New Jersey, but the Jets are in the midst of their best drive of the game.
New York will have a 1st-and-10 on the Texans’ 34-yard line to start the second quarter. The Jets have gone 50 yards in five plays.
Texans can’t overcome mistakes, punt again
The Texans had a 2nd-and-3, but a holding penalty and sack on back-to-back plays were too much for the offense to overcome.
Houston punted again. The Jets take over on their own 31.
Jets punt as crowd gets restless
Breece Hall ran for a first down on the Jets’ first play of the drive, but they went nowhere after that.
Aaron Rodgers threw incomplete on second and third down, which included a miscommunication with Davante Adams.
New York’s offense was booed as it jogged off the field.
The Texans started from their own 13.
Fumble! Jets recover!
The Texans were driving after the roughing the punter penalty and had the ball inside the Jets’ 15, but Quinnen Williams stripped C.J. Stroud on 2nd and 11.
New York recovered and takes over with the teams still tied at 0.
Texans’ second drive gets saved by penalty (for now)
A penalty and a sack set the Texans back, who lost 11 yards to start their second drive of the game. C.J. Stroud tried to find Tank Dell over the middle on 3rd and 21, but was nearly picked off.
Houston punted on the next play, but a roughing-the-punter penalty by the Jets gave the Texans a first down on New York’s side of the 50.
Jets go three and out
Two incomplete passes and a sack, and that will do it for the Jets’ first drive of the game.
New York had to punt from its own end zone, and the Texans will take over near midfield.
Texans stall near midfield
One first down for Houston on its opening drive, but that’s it.
The Jets will take over for their first possession at their own 11.
We’re off...
...And the Texans’ first play from scrimmage is an incomplete pass by C.J. Stroud. Happy Halloween!
Aaron Rodgers and Jets offense still searching for answers
The Jets have only scored 23+ points in two games this season (wins in Weeks 2-3), while they have been held to 22 points or fewer in all six losses. Four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, who is the oldest player in the NFL at age 40, has struggled to make an impact on a Jets offense that is averaging just 18.8 points per game this season.
Rodgers, who had just one INT through the first four games this season, tied his career high with three picks in the Week 5 loss against Minnesota. He threw one pick in the Week 6 loss vs. Buffalo and two against Pittsburgh in Week 7.
C.J. Stroud remains one of the league’s top QBs
Now in his second NFL season, C.J. Stroud has continued to be one of the top quarterbacks in the league.
Entering Week 9, Stroud has thrown for 1,948 yards (243.5 per game) with 11 passing TDs and 4 INTs. He has thrown a touchdown pass in seven of eight games this season (all but the Week 7 loss at Green Bay).
Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich talks losing streak
After the Jets lost their fourth straight game, a 25-22 loss to the Patriots, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich explained the emotions in the locker room.
“I’m pissed. They’re pissed. I’m hurt. They’re hurt," he said. "We are not executing in critical moments, especially down the stretch right there. We had opportunities to win this game. Should have won this game, and we do give credit to the Patriots. Took advantage of a team that didn’t execute as well as they can.”
The Jets became the first team since 2012 to have zero turnovers, hold the opposition to fewer than 250 of offense, and still lose the game.
Jets' playoff drought likely to continue
The Jets have not made the playoffs since reaching back-to-back AFC Championship Games in 2009 and 2010 with Rex Ryan as head coach and Mark Sanchez at quarterback. Their current 13-year playoff drought is the longest in franchise history and is tied with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres for the longest active postseason drought in major American pro team sports (NFL/MLB/NBA/NHL/MLS/WNBA).
The Jets have finished with a losing record for eight straight seasons (finished 7-10 in both 2022 and 2023). They have not finished a season above .500 since 2015, when they went 10-6 in Todd Bowles’ first season as head coach (in 2015, the Jets lost a “win and you’re in” game at Buffalo in the final game of the season to miss the playoffs).
New York has not won a division title since the 2002 season, which was Houston’s first season as an NFL franchise.
Texans inactives vs. Jets
Who steps up for Texans with Collins, Diggs out?
Without Collins and Diggs, second-year wideout Tank Dell, who has had an up-and-down season, will be the Texans’ top target.
Dell did not score a touchdown in any of his first four games played (missed Week 4 with a chest injury) but has now caught two touchdowns in the last three games. While he scored in Week 6 against New England and in Week 8 against Indianapolis, he did not have a single catch in the Week 7 loss at Green Bay.
Dell had 709 receiving yards and seven receiving TDs in 11 games played as a rookie last season. He missed the final five games of the regular season and both playoff games after breaking his leg in Houston’s Week 13 win vs. Denver.
Texans RB Joe Mixon stepping up after injury
Joe Mixon, acquired this offseason from Cincinnati, missed multiple games after suffering a high ankle sprain in Week but he's been effective when healthy. Since returning three weeks ago, he has five touchdowns and has topped 100+ rushing yards in each matchup. His 4.9 yards per carry this season is a career high.
“Sometimes, you’re going to have to be speed. Sometimes you’re going to have to be power. Sometimes you’re going to have to be elusive," Mixon told reporters this week. "I’ve been blessed enough and fortunate enough to be able to do it all… At the end of the day I just to do whatever I can within the run scheme and also be in sync with our linemen. I also try do whatever I can to make their block right. We just take a lot of pride in being on the same page, and it’s been taking us a long way.”
Jets (again) on prime time
This is the Jets fifth prime time game this season. They are 1-3 so far, with their only primetime win coming at home against New England on 'Thursday Night Football' in Week 3.
This will be the third TNF game at MetLife Stadium this season. Along with the Jets win over New England, the Giants lost at home against the Cowboys on TNF in Week 4.
Texans WR Stefon Diggs to miss rest of season
Houston Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL, head coach DeMeco Ryans said Tuesday.
Diggs, 30, was injured in the Texans’ 23-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 8. He was hurt on a noncontact play. Diggs had 47 catches for 496 yards and three touchdowns in eight appearances before the injury. Houston traded a second-round and fifth-round pick to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for Diggs and a sixth-rounder in April. It was the second time in his career Diggs had been traded in the offseason, after he was moved to Buffalo from the Minnesota Vikings in 2020.