Headline: Top Defenses Clash in Battle of 7-1 Teams – Texans Visit Bears Sunday Night
In what is the most anticipated game on the Week 10 schedule the Houston Texans head to Soldier Field to take on the Bears with second place in the NFL on the line. Both teams have been very impressive on both sides of the ball thus far and both will be looking to prove why they are serious contenders for the Super Bowl during their nationally televised showdown.
Headline: Texans Look to Deepen Jets Wounds on Monday Night
The Houston Texans will look to remain perfect on the season when they travel to New York to take on the completely dysfunctional Jets. It is a tale of two franchises – one going in completely the right direction and the other sliding down that slippery slope in the wrong direction – I will let you decide which franchise is going in which direction!
Headline: Broncos Tough Schedule Resumes Sunday Versus Texans
Welcome back to the league Peyton Manning! After playing well against Pittsburgh and Atlanta in the first two games of the season, Peyton’s Denver Broncos play host to another league elite the Houston Texans in Week 3. Houston has proven to be one of the more complete teams in the league thus far – offense and defense are in the top tier making Houston a very tough out!
The Rockets have lost 2 straight home games and they could really use a win tonight facing the Suns, as they are tied with the Nuggets for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference and they only lead the Jazz by 1.5 games and the Suns by 2 games.
The Houston Rockets are coming off a huge win at Staples Center in Los Angeles against the Lakers Friday night.
In this shortened NBA season there haven’t been many chances to get an extended break, but the Rockets have had three straight days off coming into this one.
The Houston Rockets are fighting for their playoff lives and are in tough spot on Monday night. It will the their third game in 4 nights and they will be visiting the team with the best record in the league.
In that game, Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Shawn Marion and Jason Terry added 21 points for the Mavericks, who completed a four-game season sweep over the Rockets for the first time since 2002-03.
It is probably not a good sign when the way your team’s makes the national headlines is for having someone step on your power forward’s face.
The Texans looked great on both sides of the ball last week in their playoff win over Cincinnati, but now they have a tall task taking on a Ravens’ team that went undefeated at home this season and has a great defense.
The NFL playoffs kick off Saturday afternoon in Houston. A few weeks ago the Texans beat Cincinnati 20-19 on a last second touchdown. It looked like that would knock the Bengals out of the playoffs, but they backed their way in because other playoff contenders flopped at the end of the season.
Houston has just missed the playoffs several times, but they are finally a part of the postseason.
Cincinnati Bengals (9-7) vs. Houston Texans (10-6)
Time/Date: 4:30 PM EST, January 7, 2012
Venue: Reliant Stadium
Broadcast: NBC
Bengals vs. Texans Gambling Odds from Bookmaker
Spread: Texans -3
Moneyline: Houston (-170) Cincinnati (+150)
Over/Under: 38.5
The Bengals were expected to be terrible, but this young squad came together quickly.
Which team will move on?
Andy Dalton will get plenty of consideration for Rookie of the Year honors, and he definitely deserves it. Carson Palmer deserted this team after a 4-12 year last year, and many believed the team would do even worse this year. Dalton stepped into a difficult situation and excelled in his rookie season in the league.
He threw 20 touchdowns and had a respectable 80.4 quarterback rating this year. A.J. Green definitely helped make Dalton’s transition easier. Green topped the 1,000 yard receiving mark in his rookie season. He is destined to be a star for many years to come. The Bengals must get Cedric Benson and the ground game going in this one.
It was the Cincinnati defense that led this team to the playoffs this year. Several weeks into the season they were the top ranked defense in the NFL. Key injuries to guys like Leon Hall and Keith Rivers hurt this unit in the last few weeks, but they have continued to be solid. Nate Clements and Reggie Nelson lead a solid secondary, while Domata Peko and Geno Atkins provide strength on the front line. Cincinnati gives up 20.2 points per game.
Houston saw its top two quarterbacks go down with an injury this year. Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart are both expected to miss the rest of the year, so it is up to rookie T.J. Yates. Yates was an unheralded rookie coming into the season, but he has filled in admirably for this team. Yates completed 61% of his passes this year, and he threw for 949 yards in limited action. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The Texans are led by a great tailback tandem. Arian Foster and Ben Tate combined for more than 2,100 rushing yards this year. Foster’s versatility in the passing game is a big perk for this team. Tate was a bit of surprise to most of the league, but he averaged an impressive 5.4 yards per carry this year. Andre Johnson missed a lot of time this year, but he is expected to be ready for this one.
Last year the Houston pass defense was the worst in the NFL, and this season they ranked third in the league. Johnathan Joseph, formerly a star for the Bengals, stepped in and made this Texans secondary much better right away. Joseph led the team with 15 pass deflections and four interceptions this year.
Brian Cushing led the team in tackles, and this group of linebackers is ultra-talented. Overall, the Texans finished the regular season ranked second in the NFL in total defense.
Both of these teams are led by a strong defense. I don’t expect either team to put up big points in this one. I like the value on the under.
Free NFL Pick: Under 38.5
The Houston Rockets travel to Los Angeles looking to boost their record to above .500 for the first time in the young season, and will get a break as they taking on a Lakers team that has struggled to start the season.
The Tennessee Titans, with an ever-so-slim Playoff possibility meet the struggling but already safe Houston Texans on Sunday to close out their Regular season.
The Texans (8-3) has won 5 straight, which is their longest winning streak in team history, but getting to 6 straight will not be easy, as they face a 7-4 Falcons’ team and they will be starting their 3rd string QB.
Matt Leinart and the Houston Texans will try and extend their current winning streak to five games this Sunday afternoon when they tangle with the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field in this AFC South matchup. The kick-off is slated for 1 p.m. and the game will be broadcast regionally on CBS.
For those of you who may have lost track, Houston is one of only 5 teams still undefeated in FBS this season. They are certainly not the most talented of that bunch but with the schedule they have they might actually be the most likely team to finish the season that way.
