CLICK TO GRAB OUR BEST Expert NFL Picks for 2013 NFL PLAYOFFS Betting!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nDespite that loss and the late-season struggles, the Texans ended the season Top 10 in the NFL in nearly every statistical category.<\/p>\n
Houston\u2019s game is running the ball with Arian Foster but their ability to get the ball in their best playmakers hands lacked somewhat down the stretch. Last week Foster was the difference in the game rushing for 140 yards \u2013 a good sign for all you Texans fans. Houston ended the season with the 8th best rushing attack in the NFL \u2013 they will absolutely need their running game to show up Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Texans passing game was 11th in the NFL this season gaining 239.38 yards per game. The issue? They only have one real weapon \u2013 Andre Johnson. If the Pats slow Johnson, obviously Matt Schaub\u2019s numbers will be less-than-scintillating.<\/p>\n
Houston\u2019s defense also struggled down the stretch but was clearly one of the better units in the league during the regular season. They gave up 42 points in December 10 to the Patriots and but they limited Cincinnati to just 13 last week in a game that Andy Dalton was made to look like an amateur. Overall Houston finished the season 16th against the pass, 7th against the run and they allowed the 9th fewest points per game.<\/p>\n
The New England Patriots had some success versus the Houston Texans earlier this season in a game that Tom Brady went 21-for-35 for 296 yards with four touchdowns and no picks \u2014 but it was the Patriots\u2019 defense that really excelled. The Patriots defense limited Houston to just 14 points, 100 yards rushing and 247 yards passing. The Texans crossed the New England 30-yard line just once in the first half, and didn\u2019t get into the Patriots\u2019 red zone until it was 28-0 midway through the third quarter. Eight of Houston\u2019s 13 drives went for four plays or less, and the Texans were 4-for-14 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n
The Patriots offense was predictably one of the best in the NFL this season \u2013 tops in scoring with an average of 34.18 points per game, 7th in rushing surprisingly averaging 136.50 yards per game and 4th in passing with 291.38 yards per game on average. They were as balanced as we have seen with this team \u2013 scary for any of their opposition going forward. In the first meeting, the Pats had success without Rob Gronkowski who is healthy again and ready to re-assume his role as one of the biggest offensive weapons in the game.<\/p>\n
As mentioned, New England\u2019s defense was not the liability that many thought they would be this year. They were 9th in points against (20.69 per game), ninth against the run but 29th against the pass. With Arian Foster coming to town, the run defense will be called upon often and when the pass defense is thrust into action, they will have the benefit of matching up with a Houston pass offense that struggled down the stretch.<\/p>\n
Betting Prediction:<\/h3>\n
A few trends to consider:<\/p>\n
\u2022 The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Houston’s last 6 games
\n\u2022 Houston is 13-4 SU in its last 17 games
\n\u2022 Houston is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games on the road
\n\u2022 Houston is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
\n\u2022 New England is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games
\n\u2022 New England is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home
\n\u2022 The total has gone OVER in 6 of New England’s last 7 games at home
\n\u2022 The total has gone OVER in 11 of New England’s last 14 games<\/p>\n
The success of Tom Brady on home turf is well documented and there is no reason to think that his success will end Sunday. Brady\u2019s experience, his host of weapons and his overall command of arguably the best offense in the game should propel the Pats to an easy victory Sunday. Despite Houston\u2019s success last week against Cincinnati the fact remains that they only scored one offensive touchdown in their win.<\/p>\n
Field goals won\u2019t get it done against New England! This game has blowout written all over it \u2013 Houston has been average at best the last six weeks and average won\u2019t nearly be good enough against one of the most decorated playoff QBs in the history of the game. The Pats win easily \u2013 fear not the 9 1\/2 point spread!<\/p>\n
Pick: New England patriots -9 1\/2<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston vs New England Betting? Headline: Texans Look For Revenge Versus Patriots in Divisional Round The Houston Texans head out on the road this week looking to erase the memory of a 42-14 loss at the hands of the New England Patriots December 10 \u2013 a loss that begun a slight downhill spiral down the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[57647,57704,8376,463,577,57223,57224,2236,802,57705,830,856,57225,57226,57227,57228],"class_list":["post-59166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-2013-nfl-playoffs","tag-afc-divisional-playoff-spreads","tag-afc-divisional-round","tag-free-nfl-picks","tag-houston","tag-houston-texans-vs-new-england-patriots","tag-houston-vs-new-england","tag-new-england","tag-nfl-betting","tag-nfl-divisional-playoff-odds","tag-nfl-handicapping","tag-nfl-predictions","tag-texans-patriots-line","tag-texans-vs-patriots","tag-texans-vs-patriots-odds","tag-texans-vs-patriots-point-spread"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59166"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59210,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59166\/revisions\/59210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}