2013 Houston Texans Preseason: Starters To Play First Half Against Saints

As exhibitions go, the third preseason game in the NFL each season is typically considered to be the most like a regular season game. As opposed to seeing the starters play only a handful of snaps or a couple of series, that third game generally results in the starters seeing more live game action than at any other point of the exhibition season. Not enough to make those who paid for tickets forget that they're paying exorbitant regular season prices for games that mean nothing in the standings, but it's the smallest ripoff in the con that is NFL preseason football.

Before I get any further off the track ranting about the absurdity of ticket prices, Gary Kubiak has announced how much Texans fans should expect to see from the starters on Sunday afternoon when the Saints come to Reliant Stadium:

"We’ll play our starters a good half of football or a number of snaps, whichever comes first."

It remains to be seen, of course, which projected starters will actually be deemed healthy enough to play. Nevertheless, the lack of snaps for the starters in the preseason finale against the Cowboys next week will make Sunday afternoon's game feel like the Super Bowl.