Philadelphia Eagles vs. Houston Texans: Live Score and Analysis for Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Eagles travel to Houston to play the Texans in a game that has playoff implications for both teams. The 5-2 Eagles are in a quest to stay on the heels of the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East, while the most realistic option for the Texans is a wild-card berth. 

For the Eagles, this game marks the return of veteran running back Darren Sproles, who missed one game with a knee injury suffered against the New York Giants earlier this month. Even more importantly, center Jason Kelce returns after missing four games with a sports hernia. 

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And as expected, it appears Jason Kelce, Todd Herremans,Darren Sproles will be active. Also looks like Molk will be up ahead of Vandervelde.

— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) November 2, 2014"

The Texans will not have the services of linebackers Brian Cushing and Jadeveon Clowney, as Cushing is recovering from a knee injury and Clowney is fighting illness. For Clowney, this marks the seventh out of nine games the No. 1 overall pick has missed. 

The biggest key to the game for the Eagles is finding a way to somehow stop or at least contain J.J. Watt. The most dominant defensive player in the league and perhaps the best all-around force since Reggie White, Watt is in the midst of his usual incredible year, having collected seven sacks and scored three touchdowns.

He will get to face an interior Eagles offensive line that is missing All-Pro guard Evan Mathis and whose other starting guard, Todd Herremans, is trying to play through a torn bicep.

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#Eagles G Todd Herremans (fully torn biceps) slated to start today at #Texans, but surgery has not been ruled out in the future.

— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) November 2, 2014"

For the Texans, exploiting the Eagles' weak secondary is key. Ryan Fitzpatrick beat the Eagles when he was with the Buffalo Bills in 2011, while receivers Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins will both cause headaches for an Eagles secondary that has been subpar, to say the least.

Overall, the Eagles are a significantly better team and should be able to defeat Houston by a solid seven-to-10 points. The Eagles have defeated the Texans all three times they've played. Expect that streak to continue in today's Week 9 battle. 

Kickoff is at 1 p.m. ET, so keep it right here for the latest updates and analysis.