NFL Betting Preview: Seattle Seahawks at Houston Texans

Two AFC contenders face off at Reliant Stadium on Sunday as the Houston Texans host the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks have run roughshod over their opponents this season–Seattle looked sluggish early on in their opening contest at Carolina but managed to salvage the straight up/pointspread win. They’ve won and covered both games since then to extend their record to 3-0 SU/ATS entering this contest. The Houston Texans were expected to be a top team in the AFC this season but have been disappointing so far. They won their first two games against second rate competition (San Diego, Tennessee) but were thumped by the Ravens at Baltimore last week. Most problematically, the Texans have yet to cover a pointspread this season.

Despite the Texans early season struggles you can make a compelling case for taking them as a home underdog here. In recent years the Texans have been a team that plays their best football early in the season. They’re currently on a 10-3 SU run in the month of September. The problem with that concept here is that the Seattle Seahawks could very well be the best team in the NFL at the moment. They’ve got the dangerous combination of talent on both sides of the ball, good coaching and swagger. Seattle has been especially effective when playing high level opponents–they’ve covered 12 straight games when facing opponents with records of .500 or better.

Our primary concern about using Seattle in this spot is that the Texans have a solid defense and that this could become a ‘war of attrition’ with points at a premium. For that reason, we’ll attack this game through the total and go Under. At its essence this game features a pair of conservative, run first offenses that play deliberate ball control football paired against stout, aggressive defenses. Our points projection puts the final score in the low to mid 30’s which should put this game well Under the total. There’s also a chance of rain in the area–though not enough to suggest that the team would cover the retractable roof atop of Reliant Stadium–which works in our favor as well.

BET SEATTLE/HOUSTON UNDER 42′