Houston Texans (0-0-1) vs. Denver Broncos (0-1)
September 18, 2022 4:25 pm EDT
The Line: Denver Broncos -9.5 / Houston Texans +9.5; Over/Under: +45.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Denver Broncos and Houston Texans square off Sunday in a week 2 NFL contest from Empower Field at Mile High.
The Houston Texans will try to finish the job after starting the year with a 20-20 tie against the Colts last time out. Davis Mills has thrown for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns on 62.2% passing while Rex Burkhead and Dameon Pierce have combined for 73 rushing yards so far this season. Brandin Cooks leads the Texans with 7 grabs for 82 yards as well this season. On defense, Kamu Grugier-Hill has a team-high 18 total tackles including 14 solo tackles and Jonathan Owens has 15 total tackles with 11 solo tackles this season. Jerry Hughes also has a pair of sacks and an interception up to this point.
The Denver Broncos will look to rebound after their 17-16 loss to Seattle on Monday night. Russell Wilson’s thrown for 340 yards and a touchdown on 69% passing while Melvin Gordon III and Javonte Williams have combined for 101 rushing yards so far. Jerry Jeudy has a team-high 102 receiving yards with a touchdown while Courtland Sutton has 72 receiving yards and the aforementioned Williams has a team-high 11 catches for 65 yards this season. On defense, Alex Singleton and Justin Simmons each have a team-high 9 total tackles while Bradley Chubb has a pair of sacks so far this season.
Houston is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a losing record while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 games as a road underdog. Denver is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a losing record and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall while the under is 9-3 in their last 12 games overall.
I get the reasoning for backing either side here, but I think the better play is to go with the under. I don’t expect a ton of carry over from Houston’s successful debut this season, but I’m also not fond of a lot of the decisions that Denver’s coaching staff made in the loss to Seattle and Denver also has to show that they can score instead of coughing the ball up on the goal line. I think this is going to be an ugly game that stays under the number.
