Texans vs. Titans Prediction
Will the Houston Texans be able to cap off their AFC South title with one more win when they face the Tennessee Titans today at 1PM ET?
According to the oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Titans are favored at home in this game, as Tennessee is getting odds of -3 points against the Texans. The over/under total for the contest is listed at 40.5 points. Houston has won five straight in this series, including a 27-20 win back on Dec. 2 at home. The Texans have covered the spread in six straight as well.
Houston has won its last three games to move to 9-6 on the year and win the AFC South title. The Texans are locked into the fourth seed for the playoffs and that won’t change on Sunday. The Texans have failed to cover in five of their last six, though, and are just 6-8-1 against the spread in 2016. Houston has been able to win the past few weeks after benching Brock Osweiler at QB and inserting Tom Savage. Savage has thrown for 436 yards thus far and hasn’t turned the ball over, something Osweiler has struggled with. Lamar Miller has led the offense with 1,073 yards rushing, however he is out for this game due to a lingering ankle injury. Defensively, Houston is allowing just 20.3 points and 317.7 yards per game. They have been very strong against the pass, allowing just 218.3 yards per contest. Jadeveon Clowney won’t play for Houston today, though, as he has an elbow injury.
The Titans are coming off a devastating 38-17 loss at Jacksonville last week that ended their playoff hopes and also saw their QB Marcus Mariota go down with a broken leg. Tennessee comes into this game at 8-7 on the season and 6-9 against the spread. Matt Cassel will fill in for Mariota, but he has limited snaps this year, throwing just 25 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. DeMarco Murray is the leading offensive star for the Titans with 1,266 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Defensively, Tennessee is giving up 24.1 points per game, allowing 287.1 passing yards per game.
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Houston has nothing to play for and is resting key players, so I don’t expect much from the Texans. The Titans would like to try to end the season on a positive after such a disappointing showing last week. Cassel may not be great, but the Titans can still ride the legs of Murray and Derrick Henry to a win and cover today.
NFL WEEK 17 PREDICTION: TENNESSEE TITANS -3
