Houston Texans defense will derail Mark Sanchez

It must be tough to be New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez these days. In the off-season the team added a fan favorite to the roster by acquiring quarterback Tim Tebow. After the first week it seemed that Sanchez was finally ready to assert himself as an top tier starting quarterback in the league. The Jets destroyed the Buffalo Bills 48-28 (the game was even more lopsided than the score depicts) and Sanchez had strong opening day.  He completed over 70 percent of his passes for 266 yards with three touchdowns and only one interception. That day was the highlight of his year to date.

The next few weeks for Sanchez have not gone wel,l his completion percentage has reached a high of  46.7 and the team has lost two of their next three games. The struggles of Sanchez culminated last week against the San Fransisco 49ers. For the game he had a completion of 44.8 percent for 103 yards and one interception. His quarterback rating for the game was a miserable 2.8 in the shut out loss.

This week Sanchez has to face the undefeated Houston Texans and their powerful defense. Sanchez has to have a lot on his mind with Tebow nipping at his heals, the injury to his top wide out Santonio Holmes, the abhorrent loss to the 49ers and the prospect of facing the Texans defense while trying to get back on track.

The Houston defense is led by defensive end J.J. Watt who has been a dominant force against offenses this year. The Texans defensive front should be able to get a good push up front especially against Jets right tackle Austin Howard, the weak point of the line. Defensive back Johnathan Joseph has established himself as a true shut down corner and fellow defensive back Kareem Jackson has shown his explosiveness. Last week Jackson had an interception return for 63 yards and a touchdown.

Without his top receiver and a mediocre running game Sanchez will struggle. This game will most likely not be as bad as the week before but look for the Texans to come up big against the Jets. The final score will be Houston 36, Jets 16.

Joe Serenka, Houston Texans Blogger, follow him on Twitter @Texansblogster