Houston Texans (1-0, 1-0 ATS) @ Oakland Raiders (0-1, 0-1 ATS)
*ATS= against the spread
BETDAQ Line: Houston -3 (40)
Significant Injuries
Houston: LB Jadeveon Clowney (out– knee), S Shiloh Keo (out– calf)
Oakland: RB Maurice Jones-Drew (questionable– hand), OT Matt McCants (questionable– knee), LB Kaluka Maiava (questionable– illness), LB Nick Roach (questionable– concussion), CB Taiwan Jones (out– foot)
Recent Trends
Houston is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 September games
Houston is 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games following a win
Oakland is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home games
Oakland is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a loss
The road team is 5-2 ATS in the last 7 meetings between these 2 teams
The UNDER is 4-0 in Houston’s last 4 games overall
The UNDER is 9-2-1 in Oakland’s last 12 home games
Three reasons to back Houston
1. The Texans played very well defensively last week, limiting the explosive Washington offense to just 6 points. This week they face an Oakland offense that managed just 14 points and 156 total yards in a Week 1 loss to the New York Jets, so another dominant performance from J.J. Watt and Co. is a definite possibility.
2. The Raiders are a terrible home team, failing to cover in four consecutive opportunities. They’re also a bad team to back after a loss (0-4 ATS last four) and they have an awful record against teams with winning records, covering just once in their last 7 such games. Betting on Oakland in this situation just isn’t smart based on what we’ve seen out of them recently.
3. Oakland will be starting a rookie quarterback, Derek Carr. Houston, on the other hand, will be led by veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was very efficient in last week’s win over Washington. This is a clear-cut advantage for the Texans.
Three reasons to back Oakland
1. The Raiders enter this game as underdogs against a team that’s won just once in their last 15 games. Houston simply isn’t good enough to be favored over anybody, especially on the road, where they’re 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games despite being underdogs in eight of those games.
2. The Raiders played well defensively in Week 1, going on the road and limiting the Jets to 19 points. This week they’ll face a Houston offense that really struggled against Washington and now must go on the road, where a hostile environment awaits. The Oakland defense could dominate this game.
3. The Oakland offense is well-stocked at the skill positions and Derek Carr certainly didn’t look like a rookie at the outset of last week’s game in New York, when he completed his first 5 passes and led the team to an early touchdown. The fact that Carr is a rookie is the biggest reason why Houston is favored in this game, but he just may surprise some people. The kid has talent.
Prediction
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