The Houston Texans will look to stay on top of the AFC South with their fifth straight victory. Houston hosts the Miami Dolphins on Thursday Night Football to open Week 8, with kickoff set at 8:20 p.m. ET from NRG Stadium. While Houston has been red-hot over the past month, Miami has struggled. The Dolphins have lost three of their last four games after starting the season 3-0. And “Brocktober” will continue to roll on for the Dolphins as Brock Osweiler makes his third consecutive start for injured quarterback Ryan Tannehill (shoulder). In the latest Texans vs. Dolphins odds, Houston is a 7.5-point favorite, while the over-under on total points scored is 44.5, down from an open of 45.5. Before you make any Texans vs. Dolphins picks and predictions, check out what SportsLine’s Larry Hartstein has to say.
SportsLine’s senior analyst is 7-1 in his past eight ATS picks involving the Texans and 3-0 in his past three involving the Dolphins. The last time he released a pick on either of these teams, he confidently stated that Houston would not cover 10 points against the lowly Bills in Week 5. The result: Buffalo led by three with two minutes left, falling 20-13 for another easy cash.
Moreover, Hartstein is 25-11 on all NFL picks this season, a sterling 69 percent cash rate that has enabled his followers to net nearly $1,300. Now, Hartstein has analyzed Texans vs. Dolphins from every possible angle. He’s sharing his strong against-the-spread pick only over at SportsLine.
Hartstein knows that that Houston’s defense has been playing lights-out this season. The Texans are holding their opponents to 20.6 points per game, which ranks eighth in the NFL. Houston’s D, led by J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney, is also holding opponents to just 92.1 rushing yards per game and has allowed just one rushing touchdown all season.
Now, the dynamic duo of Watt and Clowney will get to face a familiar foe in Osweiler, who will be missing his top two receivers. That doesn’t bode well for Miami’s quarterback, who’s won just eight of his 22 career starts on the road.
On offense, the Texans have won four straight, with wins over the Colts, Cowboys, Bills, and Jaguars. The offense hasn’t scored more than 20 points since Week 4, but the defense has held its last three opponents to 16 points or fewer.
But just because the Texans are hot doesn’t mean they’ll cover a big spread against the Dolphins on “Thursday Night Football.”
Houston is 0-5 against the spread in its last five home games and the Texans typically disappoint whenever people start believing in them. Osweiler, for his part, is playing career-best football, completing 67.5 percent of his passes with six touchdowns against two interceptions since replacing Tannehill (shoulder) in Week 4.
While Albert Wilson (hip) and Kenny Stills (groin) won’t play, Danny Amendola (14 catches, 143 yards, one touchdown the past two weeks) has stepped up and running back Kenyan Drake (4.9 yards per carry, three touchdowns) continues to excel without fanfare. Miami beat the only other AFC South team it has faced, the Titans, in Week 1, and started the season off with three straight wins.
We can tell you Hartstein is leaning over, but his much stronger play is against the spread. Hartstein has identified a huge personnel mismatch that causes one side of the spread to hit hard. He’s sharing what it is, and who to back, only at SportsLine.
So which side of the spread should you back for Dolphins vs. Texans? And what huge personnel mismatch makes one side a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side you need to be all over, all from the seasoned expert who’s on 10-1 heater on Dolphins and Texans’ pointspread picks, and find out.
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