NFL Football Betting: Houston Texans at San Francisco 49ers
Intriguing non-conference matchup on Sunday as the Houston Texans take their 2-2 record out to the West Coast to take on the 2-2 San Francisco 49ers. The Niners were last year’s Super Bowl runner up but have underachieved so far this season. They’ve had their share of injuries but the team also seems to lack the intensity that took them to the championship game a year ago. Houston came into the 2013 season expected to be a contender but haven’t been underwhelming thus far going 2-2 straight up and a woeful 0-4 against the pointspread.
Houston is a maddening team that really *should* be better than they are. They’ve got a solid offense led by Matt Schaub and he’s got an impressive array of weapons at his disposal. Houston’s defense will be vastly improved this season now that linebacker Brian Cushing is back in the lineup. Cushing missed much of last season due to injury but before he was shut down the Texans were a defensive juggernaut. Cushing’s participation this weekend isn’t a ‘done deal’, however, as he suffered a concussion last weekend against Seattle. He’s listed as ‘probable’ at the moment but it’s a good idea to monitor his status.
San Francisco sure doesn’t look like the same team that made the run to the Super Bowl last season. Colin Kaepernick has regressed and the team has a serious depth problem at wide receiver with Mario Manningham and Michael Crabtree out ‘indefinitely’. The defense has been surprisingly porous this season and be without lineback Aldon Smith for the forseeable future as he deals with off field issues. The Niners have been a great pointspread team under Jim Harbaugh in just about every situation including 7-2 ATS as a non-division home favorite.
Both teams have their liabilities but this line simply looks too high. Since 2011 Houston is 3-1 SU/4-0 ATS after two or more consecutive losses and will no doubt be seething following a 4th quarter collapse at home against Seattle last week. Until the Niners get some of their key contributors back on offense and tighten up things on defense we’d much rather go against them than play on them. We’ll take the big price with the Texans in a game they’re capable of winning outright.
BET HOUSTON TEXANS +6′ OVER SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
