This is my preview of the Carolina Panthers at the Houston Texans to be played on Sunday December 18^th 2011. The Houston Texans having lost two quarterbacks for the season still clinched their division last week. The Carolina Panthers started strong againstAtlanta before faltering in the second half.

With the Texans clinching their first playoff berth in franchise history it’s unclear if they will rest their starters or not. I will assume the Houston Texans will go all out against the Carolina Panthers to try to secure a home playoff game.

The Texans have won seven straight and now have rookie T.J. Yates at quarterback and one of his backups is former Carolina Panther Jake Delhomme. I am not worried about Delhomme helping the Texans much as the Panthers did not use the same offensive system when Jake played for them.

To beat the Houston Texans, the Carolina Panthers need to play four quarters of mistake free football. Under Wade Phillips the Texans have a very sound defense against the run and the pass. On offense with a rookie quarterback the Texans will try to have their number three rushing offense in fine working order.

I think the Carolina Panthers should go old school John Fox ball and run often. To keep the Texans from running on the banged up Panthers defense, the offense should run on Houston.

I feel that DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are primed for big games if they get the opportunity. Cam Newton needs to keep Steve Smith in his thoughts early and often against the Texans.

Look also for Coach Chud to get the tight ends and running backs involved more in the passing game. Against the 3-4 blitzing Texans defense Cam Newton will need to dump the ball off fast on shorter routes.

I expect a slight letdown by the Texans who have a large amount of injuries on their roster. They will try to win the game but I don’t think they can stay as high as they have been in recent weeks.

The Panthers are the perfect team to knock off the Texans in a classic trap game. Coach Ron Rivera wants to finish 2011 on a good note and will have the Carolina Panthers fired up to upset the Houston Texans.

My prediction for the Carolina Panthers at the Houston Texans is that Houston will win it at home 27 to 24. Please check back here for my review of the game when it’s over and check me out on Twitter here.