Houston Texans (1-0 ATS 1-0 ATS) vs. Washington Redskins (1-0 SU 1-0 ATS) Week 2 NFL Football, FedEx Field, Landover, MD 4:15 PM ET, September 19, 2010 on CBS
by Jason Green of Predictem.com
Point Spread: Hou -3/Wash +3
Over/Under Total: 44
This Sunday in the nation’s capital the Washington Redskins host the Houston Texans. Both teams got a little bit of a monkey off their back since each won last week against their division nemesis and this week the Redskins look to go 2-0 against teams from the Lone Star State after beating Dallas last week.
The Redskins are off to a good start in the Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb era with win over their rival last week and their defense will be tested this week by a Houston offense that scored 34 points in their season opener.
It is a little funny that the Texans rank 1st in the league in rushing yards and 30th in passing yards since they headed into the 2010 season with a great passing offense and major question marks in the rushing offense.
Donovan McNabb did not have the best game in the win over Dallas, but he did not make many mistakes and he got the win. He may have a good game facing a Texans’ secondary that gave up 419 passing yards last week.
Last week the Texans beat the Indianapolis Colts 38-24 for only the second time in 16 meetings and the Redskins beat the Dallas Cowboys 13-7 after losing both games against America’s team last season.
The Redskins may want to send a thank you note to Cowboys’ offensive lineman Alex Barron, who was called for a holding penalty in the last play of the game after Tony Romo threw a game ending TD pass that was erased by the offensive penalty.
The Texans are led by QB Matt Schaub, who led the NFL in passing yards last season, but was only 9/17 for 107 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT in the win over the defending AFC champion Colts.
The main reason the Texans beat the Colts is that RB Arian Foster had 231 rushing yards. He set the record for rushing yards in a game for Houston and had the second best opening day rushing game in NFL history. This all from a guy who spent most of last season on the Texans’ practice squad. Really?
The Redskins’ defense was the main reason they beat Dallas even though they gave up 277 passing yards and 103 rushing yards. However, they came up big when it mattered and held the Cowboys to only 5/13 in 3rd down conversions. They may see more of the passing offense of the Texans in this game and they have to pressure Schaub with the pass rush and contain WR Andre Johnson.
Foster will be facing a tougher defense this week and he will not put up nearly the numbers he did last week.
The Redskins are led by Donovan McNabb, who was decent in his first game for Washington going 15/32 for 171 yards with 0 TD and 0 INT. He will be facing a mediocre Houston secondary that was torched last week for 419 yards last week.
Washington only had 89 rushing yards last week, but they will still stay with the run and the Texans’ defense has to contain Clinton Portis, who had 63 yards averaging 3.5 yards per carry, but had some big runs and was facing a tough Dallas front line. He will be used a lot again in this game and put up some solid numbers against the Texans.
Houston is 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games, 5-2-2 ATS vs. a team with a winning record, and has an Under record of 9-1-1 in their last 11 games.
Washington is 4-11 ATS in their last 15 home games, 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 games overall, and has an Over record of 4-1 in Redskins last 5 games against teams with a winning record.
Jason’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: This spread is unbettable because Houston may be THAT good. I believe there will be a TON of points scored in this game. Take the OVER 44!
