Patriots vs Texans NFL Handicapping
The Houston Texans host the New England Patriots on Sunday. At the start of the season it appeared this matchup would be between a pair of teams atop their respective divisions, but the Texans have sputtered and only the Patriots have taken care of business, but don’t be surprised if Houston is eager to play the spoiler role in front of their home crowd.
New England Patriots (8-3) at Houston Texans (2-9)
Date: Sunday, December 1, 2013
Time: 1:00 PM ET
Venue: Reliant Stadium
City: Houston, Texas
O/U Odds: 47
Spread: New England -7.5
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A season full of disappointment for the Texans was capped off a week ago with a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 13-6.
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s offense just never got going in that contest. The team generated just 218 yards of offense against the lowly Jacksonville defense. Quarterback Case Keenum completed 18 of 34 passes for just 169 yards with an interception. The team’s ground game was stuck in the mud early, with lead back Ben Tate gaining just one yard on seven carries, but Dennis Johnson replaced him later and brought some life to that side of the football, carrying the ball 13 times for 74 yards and adding two receptions for 13 yards.
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The team’s defense wasn’t terrible. Jacksonville ended the game with 333 yards of offense and 13 points, but they did pretty well what they needed to do throughout the game, controlling the ball for better than seven minutes more than Houston, and not turning the ball over.
New England’s last game wasn’t decided nearly as early. The team found themselves down 24-0 at the break to Denver but clawed their way back and eventually won the game in overtime.
The Patriots had a big fumbling problem early in the game for whatever reason. The team put the ball on the carpet six times with Denver grabbing three of those balls. Still, they gutted it out in the end. Quarterback Tom Brady completed 34 of 50 passes for 344 yards and three scores. Running back Stevan Ridley fumbled the ball early and was limited to four carries in the game. Brandon Bolden led the ground attack with 58 yards and a score on 13 carries.
The Patriot defense gave the Broncos the run and Knowshon Moreno capitalized, carrying the ball 37 times for 224 yards and a score, while quarterback Peyton Manning threw for only 150 yards. The unit forced four turnovers with the biggest coming late in the overtime session on a botched punt return that set up New England in position for the game-winning field goal.
The Patriots have played consecutive close games, but those came against tough opponents, overshadowing their improved play with all of their weapons finally on the field at the same time. Expect to see the Patriots run up the score in this one against a Texans team that hasn’t been able to get anything done in recent weeks.
The play: New England -7.5
