Here are five things to keep an eye on as the Houston Texans take on Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets at Metlife Stadium in Week 9.

3) Joe knows running – The ground game with Joe Mixon was excellent. The veteran running back has started and finished four games this season, gaining more than 100 yards in each of those four games and scoring a touchdown in each contest.

He played in five games in 2024 and averaged 100.6 yards on the ground per game. That's the third-best mark in the NFL.

Mixon believes it's just the start of something bigger.

“I feel like I’m just getting better,” Mixon said. “We just have to keep improving and make the little things responsible for the big things. We just have to stand out with our technique and our details and be able to execute everything. That’s what matters.”

The Jets' run defense is about middle of the pack in the league, giving up an average of 125.6 yards per game.

4) Hammer time – The Texans pass rush has been outstanding this season. Defensive end Will Anderson, Jr. was named Defensive Player of the Month for October and is currently third in the NFL with 7.5 sacks. Fellow defensive tackle Danielle Hunter is a few sacks behind him with 5.5, and when it comes to quarterback pressure, they're the other way around. Hunter leads the league with 51, while Anderson ranks fourth with 39.

Their ability to wreak havoc has not been lost on Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

“I need to move around a little,” Rodgers said. “Will and Danielle are great pass rushers and aren’t the only ones who get a good push up the middle. You can create five-man pressure, six-man pressure, total pressure, so I have to be able to move a little bit, a little bit, and I'm not the runner I once was.

Rodgers was sacked 18 times in 2024.

5) No flags, no turnovers – Houston ranks eighth in the NFL with a plus-4 turnover differential, while the Jets are near the bottom of the league at minus-3.

Both teams are in quite a bit of trouble, as the Texans are fifth in the NFL with 61 penalties, while the Jets are faring worse with 63 this year. This makes them the second most flags in the NFL. New York has the most penalty yards in the league with 567.