Venue/ Stadium: Sun Life Stadium, Miami, FL
Time/Date: 4:15 PM EST Saturday, September 18, 2011
NCAA Odds From: BetOnline.com
Moneyline: Texans -155 / Dolphins +135
Spread (ATS): Texans -3
Over/Under: 48
Houston Texans vs. Miami Dolphins Preview
Is this the season the Texans finally unseat the Colts atop the AFC South? They got off to a good start by crushing the Manning-less Colts in their first game and while the Dolphins lost their first outing QB Chad Henne had a good game under center. NFL lines have the visiting Texans as 3-point favorites in this AFC match up with a total of 48.
In their last games the Texans killed the Indianapolis Colts 34-7 and the Dolphins lost to the New England Patriots 38-24.
I guess there is no place like home does not apply to the Dolphins, who have lost 5 straight games and 10 of their last 11 games in Miami. On top of that the Texans have beaten the Dolphins in all 5 games they have faced each other.
Houston has a lot of things going for them in the beginning of this season, as they played great D in the win over Indy, they have a solid QB in Matt Schaub, and they may get last season’s rushing leader back in Adrian Foster.
The big issue for the Texans for the last few years has been their defense, but in a new 3-4 scheme with first round pick DE J.J. Watt they totally shut down the Colts last week holding them to only 236 total yards (172 passing 64 rushing). Chad Henne, who passed for 416 yards with 2 TD and 1 INT in the loss to the Patriots, will likely test them this week. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Reggie Bush had a decent debut in a Miami uniform with 38 yards rushing and making 9 catches for 56 yards and a TD last week. He may be the key for the Fish in this game. Also, Houston had 3 sacks last week, 2 by Mario Williams, so look for them to come after Henne early and often.
Schaub played well in the easy win over the Colts with 220 yards with a TD and he was also picked off twice. He has Andre Johnson and Jacoby Jones as his deep threats and even though Miami had a solid pass defense last season they were seriously lit up last week giving up 517 passing yards to the Patriots.
Miami gave up 622 total yards to the Patriots last week and they have to shore up their D or they are in for another home loss. Last season Adrian Foster led the league in rushing yards, but did not play in the home opener. Still, the Texans rushed for 167 yards with backup Ben Tate going for 116. Foster is slated to go in this game and the Dolphins have their work cut out for them.
Betting Trends
Houston is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 road games, 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games, and has an Over record of 4-1 in their last 5 road games.
Miami is e 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog of 0.5-3 points, and has an Over record of 12-4-1 in their last 17 home games.
Jason’s Pick: Miami has been terrible at home recently, Houston has an offense that can light up a scoreboard, and they may have a much improved defense with Wade Phillips as the new defensive coordinator. Yeah, go wit the Texans to win this game in South Beach and cover the 3-point spread and jump on the Over bet in this match up.
