Lions-Texans first half open thread

The Detroit Lions are in Houston this week hoping to move their winning streak to four games. The Lions haven’t had a four-game winning streak since 2014, when they actually did it twice during that season.

In their way is a Houston Texans team that has been highly unpredictable this year. They’re 4-3, but all three of their losses were by at least three possessions. The one constant has been their performance at home. All of Houston’s four wins have come in the comfort of their own NRG Stadium.

This will be just the fourth matchup between the two teams in franchise history, with the Texans leading the series 2-1. But both teams are drastically different from when the two teams last met in 2012.

The stakes are high in this game when it comes to playoff chances. With both teams sitting at 4-3, the difference between 5-3 and 4-4 is huge. 5-3 teams have made the playoffs 67 percent of the time, while just 33 percent of 4-4 teams reach the postseason.

While we wait for the two teams to kick off, check out all of our pre-game coverage for Week 8:

• Lions-Texans preview podcast
• On Paper preview for Lions-Texans
• A look at the history between Houston and Detroit
• Staff picks for Lions-Texans
• Five Questions with Battle Red Blog
• Fantasy implications for Lions-Texans
• Week 8 Madden simulation
• TV time, channel, online streaming options for Lions-Texans

Chat before the game and up to halftime of the Lions-Texans game. We’ll have a second half thread ready to go before the third quarter starts.

Go Lions!