Oakland Raiders at Houston Texans Odds & Game Pick
Every time it seems like the Houston Texans are ready for takeoff, their engines stall and they come crashing right back down to earth. One week after going into Arrowhead Stadium and upsetting Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in a 31-24 win, the Texans laid an egg in a 30-23 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Despite some impressive wins, Houston is still just 4-3 heading into Week 8. Can they get back on track against an Oakland Raiders team that could be fatigued from so much travel?
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Details
- Opening Line: Houston -6.5
- Current Line: Houston -6.5 at PointsBet
- Over/Under: 51.5
- Location: NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
- Start Time: 4:25 PM ET
- Last Meeting: Raiders 27 vs. Texans 20 (11/21/16) at Mexico City
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Overview
The Raiders haven’t played a home game since a 28-10 loss to the Chiefs in Week 2. Oakland followed up back-to-back road games in Minnesota and Indianapolis with a date with Chicago in London and then went to Green Bay to get blown out 42-24. However, at 3-3, the Raiders are still in the playoff hunt and are facing the team that’s holding the final AFC playoff spot right now.
The Texans’ pass defense has been atrocious this season, ranking 29th in passing yards allowed while allowing opposing quarterbacks to post a 102.9 passer rating. Derek Carr is coming off another strong performance in which he completed 22-of-28 pass attempts for 293 yards and a touchdown against the Packers. Meanwhile, rookie running back Josh Jacobs ran for a career-high 124 yards in Week 7. If the Raiders’ offense is cooking, they’ll have a shot to win this shootout.
Oakland will try to run the ball and win the time of possession battle in order to keep the ball out of Deshaun Watson’s hands because their defense should struggle this week too. Watson just became the second quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 7,500 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards in his first 30 games. Now he’ll go up against the NFL’s 31st-ranked pass defense, which has just 10 sacks on the year. Only four teams have less. If Watson has time to operate, the Texans’ offense should be back to looking electric.
Trends
- Oakland is 6-1 ATS in last 7 games following an SU loss
- Raiders are 3-15 SU in their last 18 road games
- Houston is 3-0 SU and ATS in last 3 games vs. AFC West opponents
- Texans are 6-0-1 ATS in last 7 games following an ATS loss
Bottom Line
The Texans have just one win by more than seven points this season and that was against the 1-5 Atlanta Falcons. Houston has struggled with consistency and are now facing a pesky Raiders team. This game probably ends up in a Texans win as the Raiders have been doing far too much travel over the last month to be fresh and crisp to win this important AFC showdown. However, over is probably the best bet in this contest as both teams should move the ball.
Prediction: Texans 34, Raiders 31
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Check out our other NFL Sports Betting Guides for Week 8
Philadelphia Eagles at Buffalo Bills (-2)
Cincinnati Bengals at Los Angeles Rams (-11.5)
Los Angeles Chargers at Chicago Bears (-4)
New York Jets at Jacksonville Jaguars (-6)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tennessee Titans (-2.5)
Seattle Seahawks at Atlanta Falcons (+7)
New York Giants at Detroit Lions (-6)
Denver Broncos at Indianapolis Colts (-4.5)
Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints (-10.5)
Cleveland Browns at New England Patriots (-11)
Carolina Panthers at San Francisco 49ers (-5)
Green Bay Packers at Kansas City Chiefs (+4.5)
Miami Dolphins at Pittsburgh Steelers (-14)
Dave Golokhov is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Dave, check out his archive and follow him @davegolokhov.