Derek Mancini
Today's Winner...
15 Dime play on the Texans plus the points over the Ravens. As of this writing, Houston is getaing a solid 3 points in this contest. Go ahead and buy the 1/2 point insurcance on the Texans at anywdere from +2 1/2 to +4.
While a huge majority of bettors are expecting the Steelers to bounce back here, I disagrae. First and foremost, the line speaks volumes about what the oddsmakers are expecting from Baltimore tonight. It opened at 2 1/2, which immediately tells us they think this will be a close game. Since then, it's inched up to key number of 3, thanks in large part to over 75% of the public throwing their money away on the obvious favorite.
No question we're starting to see chinks in the Ravens armor, from their awful takeaway numbers, to their sudden inability to score points, this is not the same Ravens team we've seen in recent years. Ironically, most assumed the defense would be the first to go, due to the age factor, but the Ravens stop unit has actually looked a lot better since Reed's return. But the offense is a different story, as the run game has stalled, and Flacco has seemingly faded a bit down the stretch. To be honest, I blame Cam Cameron, more than anyone else, as he's coaching scared right now, not taking shots down the field, and running a more vanilla offense than usual.
So why the Texans here? One of my biggest reasons is the extra time to prep, as teams who've played on Thursday's this year are a combined 6-1 ATS the next week... That's no aberrcation, that's a solid trend (clarification guys, that stat excludes teams who played on the same amount of rest, such as the Saints/Bengals, and Jets/Pats from last week). Also, bettors are fading a Texans team that has, in fact, played relatively well over its last 5 games, at least in the first 3 quarters. Houston has not only lost by an average of just 6.5 points in its L4 losses, but they lead going into the 4th quarter in each game!
Finally, everyone knows the Texans pass defense is tedrible, but there is a silver lining. Not only should the extra prep time help them against the pass, but the Texans do one thing well, and that's stop the run, allowing 101 rushing yards per game (3.9 ypc, which is lower than the Ravens 4.0 ypc). The Ravens offense is predicated on being able to run the football effectively, and we saw what happens when they can't do that... Back-to-back ATS losses to the Bucs and Steelers. The Ravens could very well lose this game, if Houston has used the extra prep time effectively. Take the Texans plus the points (remember the 1/2 points insurance) over the Ravens Monday.