Texans vs Colts Week 16 Gambling Preview
The Texans (10-4) have already wrapped up the AFC South, but they are coming off a shocking home loss to the 5-9 Carolina Panthers while the Colts (1-13) finally won their first game of the season last week.
Venue/ Stadium: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
Time/Date: 8:20 PM EST Thursday, December 22, 2011
NCAA Odds From: BetOnline.com
Moneyline: Texans -260 / Colts +220
Spread (ATS): Texans -5.5
Over/Under: 40
Houston Texans vs. Indianapolis Colts Preview
In the first game of the season the Texans crushed the Colts 34-7 and NFL lines have Houston as 5.5-point away favorites in this game.
In their last games the Texans lost to the Carolina Panthers 28-13 while the Colts got in the W column with a 27-13 home win over the Tennessee Titans.
On the season the Colts are 5-9 ATS with an Over/Under record of 9-5 and the Texans are 9-4-1 ATS with an Over/Under record of 7-7.
The Texans still have a chance to get a bye in the first round of the playoffs, but they trail the Patriots by 1 game in the AFC and are tied at 10-4 with 2 other teams in the conference.
The Texans’ defense has one goal and that is to stop Colts’ RB Donald Brown, who had a career game rushing for 161 yards last week against the Titans. I mean, the Colts won that game and Indy QB Dan Orlovsky was only 11/17 for 82 yards. He did throw a TD and was not picked off, but he will not fare well again in this game facing a Houston pass defense that ranks 2nd in the league.
Houston lost to the Panthers, but their pass defense did not play that bad holding Cam Newton to only 149 yards. However, they did allow him to pass for 2 TD, had no INT, and their run defense gave up 166 rushing yards. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The reason the Texans lost last week was that they had 3 turnovers and T.J. Yates had 2 of them with 2 picks. Houston will be without their main WR, as Andre Johnson will miss yet another game with a hamstring injury. Yates has to avoid the turnover and if he does that the Texans should easily win this game.
While the Colts only gave up 66 rushing yards in the win over the Titans they were facing a banged up Chris Johnson and they will not be as lucky in this game facing a healthy Adrian Foster, who rushed for 109 yards and also caught five passes for 58 yards last week. He has rushed for over 400 yards in his 2 career games against the Colts and he will have a big game this Thursday facing a Colts’ run defense that only ranks 28th in the league.
Texans vs. Colts Betting Trends
The Texans are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 road games, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a road favorite, and they have an Under record of 7-3 in their last 10 games as a road favorite.
The Colts are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games, 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games, and they have an Under record of 4-0 in their last 4 home games.
Jason’s Pick: Sure, the Colts won last week, but they will not win their 2nd straight since Texas will play better D than they did last week and they will rush for a ton of yards. Texas will cover the 5.5-point spread and take the Under since each team will rely on the run to move the chains.
