Wats’ the difference on Sunday
“Sunday Night Football” brings us a potential playoff preview with the Patriots visiting the Texans (8:20 p.m., NBC).
Heading into Sunday, the Patriots are 1¹/ 2 games ahead of the Bills in the AFC East and trying to hold off the Ravens for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, while the Texans are a game ahead of the Colts in the AFC South. If the playoffs were to start today, these teams wouldn’t meet until the AFC Championship game, but a win by the Texans on Sunday night would make a divisional playoff meeting more possible.
And I like the Texans to pull the upset, as QB Deshaun Watson quietly leads the No. 7 offense (381.6 yards per game) and has played well against the Patriots in his early NFL career. Granted, the Patriots have the No. 2 defense (allowing just 256.4 yards per game and a league-best 10.6 points per game), but it doesn’t fare as well against mobile quarterbacks (see the game versus Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, though Watson doesn’t run as much as Jackson).
In addition, the Patriots are downplaying it, but a flu bug reportedly ran through the locker room this week, with many players missing practices in addition to injuries on the defensive side, so that could add to the Texans’ homefield advantage.
This line has gone to +3¹/2 at several sportsbooks the past few days, so I’m hoping to grab it at that price, but I’m content to call it a VSiN Top Play, as I expect the Texans to win outright.
THE PLAY: Texans +3.