Houston at New Orleans

By Keith Antigiovanni

The Houston Texans, favorites in the AFC South, travel to the Superdome to face the New Orleans Saints, favorites in the NFC South in a match-up of gulf coast teams.

Houston is off to a 2-0 start for the second straight year after a 34-7 victory over arch rival Indianapolis and a 23-13 win over Miami. New Orleans is 1-1 after an opening night setback against Green Bay and a 30-13 win over Chicago at home.

The Saints offense will be a test for the Texans improved defense after the New Orleans offense has averaged 34 points per game. Houston has given up an average of only 10 points per game although both opponents thus far have struggled on offense. The Houston offense is no slouch with an average of 28 points per game.

Both Head Coaches Gary Kubiak (Houston) and Sean Payton (New Orleans) took over their current jobs in 2006. Payton won his 50th regular season game the previous week against Chicago and is 50-32 since he arrived in the "Big Easy" while Kubiak has struggled to a 39-43 record.

Payton has already achieved unprecedented success for for the Saints franchise with 2 NFC title games (2006, 2009), NFC title (2009) and a Super Bowl title (2009) while Kubiak is trying to get Houston to its' first playoff year.