3 fearless reasons the Houston Texans can upstage the Carolina Panthers in primetime

Sam Darnold’s TNF record should bring hope to Houston Texans fans

With one of the gutsier moves of the offseason, the Panthers traded for Sam Darnold. It was funny because, during his time in New York, Darnold was beaten, battered, and made into a meme after he claimed he was “seeing ghosts” in a big loss to the New England Patriots. Here’s the other thing: Sam Darnold has never won on a Thursday Night in the NFL.

Take a look at his career stats in relation to what’s happening in Week 3:

• AFC South record? One win.
• Retractable roof record? Winless.
• Weeks 1-4 record? 3-8.
• September record? 3-7.

Old habits die hard, and the Houston Texans can bet on this come Thursday Night. Once a Jets quarterback, always a Jets quarterback.

With the exception of Chad Pennington having a career revival in 2008 with Miami, who else has been able to shake off their “ghosts” from when they played in New York?  Frank Reich’s comeback in Buffalo is the only one that stands out. Ryan Fitzpatrick is also an honorable mention, but his play has been inconsistent over the years.

The pressure is going to get to Sam Darnold and it remains one of the biggest reasons the Panthers will win this game. Think of Darnold as the AFC’s version of Kirk Cousins (who struggled to win on Monday Night Football for a while).