Two AFC conference division leaders will clash on Monday Night Football as the Houston Texans will travel to face the New England Patriots. This NFL pro football game will kick off from New England at 8:30PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by ESPN.
The point spread opened up in this NFL game with the home team New England Patriots favored by -5 points with an over under line of 51 ½ points. Early money has shown on the Texans as New England is now favored by -4 points. The total has moved up a ½ point to a current line of 52 points.
The teams last met in the final regular season game of the 2009 season where the Texans posted the 34-27 home win as a -7 ½ point favorite. The game went over 46 points. The week 17 game was meaningless to New England as it did not impact their playoff position. NFL Trend: New England Patriots are 2-0-1 ATS in their past three games.
Houston has won six straight games and enters play at 11-1 on the year. They come off the 24-10 road win last week to the Tennessee Titans as a -7 point betting favorite. The over under in this game landed under 48 points. The Texans opened up the 21-3 lead and holds on for the win. They put up 332 yards offensively with 125 running the football on 35 attempts. They had no turnovers and took six away from Tennessee. Matt Schaub hit on 21 of 35 passes for 207 yards with two touchdowns. Schaub has 21 touchdowns and 9 interceptions on the season. Houston allowed the Tennessee offense to produce 354 yards with 89 from their rushing attack on 17 carries. After giving up 37 points to Jacksonville and 31 to Detroit the Houston Texans got back on track last week. The team is second in scoring offense with 29 points a game and 4th in points allowed at 18 points. They hold a two game lead for best record in the AFC conference and home field throughout the playoffs with five games remaining.
New England is riding a six game win streak and has clinched the AFC East divsion. The Patriots are 9-3 on the season and two games behind Houston for best record in the AFC with five games left. They defeat the Miami Dolphins last week 23-16 as a -7 point betting favorite. The game landed under 51 points. The Patriots put up 321 offensive yards with 108 from their ground game on 32 attempts. Tom Brady hit on 24 of 40 throws for 238 yards with a touchdown and pick. Brady has 12 touchdowns and four interceptions on the year. New England allowed Miami 277 yards of offense with 101 coming on the ground on 27 rushing attempts. The Patriots sport the top scoring offense in all of football as they average 35 points a game along with 426 yards of offense. They will be without tight end Rob Gronkowski who is recovering from a broken arm and is due back late in the month.
