The Houston Texans may have gone 4-12 a year ago, but they’ll enter the 2018 NFL regular season as one of the ‘sexy’ picks to contend for the AFC Championship for a couple of very good reasons. First, Houston found out last season they have an unequivocal star in the making in young quarterback Deshaun Watson. Next, the Texans should be one of the best defensive teams in the league thanks to the return of several starters on that side of the ball that were all lost for major stretches last season, including former Defensive Player of the Year, J.J. Watt.
Expectations have been tempered for the Kansas City Chiefs after they parted ways with long time starting quarterback Alex Smith in order to get the Patrick Mahomes era underway after they moved up in last year’s draft to nab the former Texas Tech signal-caller. Now, with both teams set to make their 2018 preseason debuts, it’s time to find out which playoff hopeful is offering the best value in their Week 1 scrimmage season pairing.
Texans vs Chiefs 2018 NFL Preseason Week 1 Odds
“Ya’ll better get ready!” @Mathieu_Era mic’d up at #TexansCamp. pic.twitter.com/qTE11Oy31A
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) July 31, 2018
When: Thursday, August 9, 2018 at 8:30 PM ET Where: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri Live Stream: NFL Game Pass NFL Odds: Kansas City -2.5 / Total: 35
Why Bet on the Houston Texans?
Why should you bet on the Texans in this Week 1 preseason pairing? Well, because they have the better set of backup quarterbacks in this matchup and head coach Bill O’Brien likes to win in the preseason. Deshaun Watson almost certainly won’t see the field in this contest as he continues to prepare for the regular season following his ACL tear a year ago, but the Texans have a capable backup in veteran Brandon Weeden that should be the best quarterback on the field in this one.
After Weeden, veterans Joe Webb and Stephen Morris will see action, so Houston looks quite competent at backup quarterback to me. Not only that, but the Texans have gone 9-6 in the preseason under Bill O’Brien, so it’s clear that he likes to win in the scrimmage season.
Team Statistics
Offense:- Average Score For: 21.12
- Total Yards: 320
- Pass Yards: 204.88
- Rush Yards: 115.12
- Average Score Against: 27.25
- Total Yards: 346.63
- Pass Yards: 237.44
- Rush Yards: 109.19
Why Bet on the Kansas City Chiefs?
Why should you bet on Kansas City in their preseason opener? The best reason to bet on the Chiefs is that they’re playing at home. Arrowhead Stadium is a difficult place for visiting teams to come into no matter what time of year it is.
The bad news for the Chiefs is that they have a mediocre backup quarterback in veteran Chad Henne and two more guys that probably shouldn’t be on an NFL playing field in Matt McGloin and Chase Litton. Not only that, but widely-respected head coach Andy Reid is just 36-40 in the preseason in his mostly illustrious career, so clearly, he doesn’t take the scrimmage season too seriously.
Team Statistics
Offense:- Average Score For: 25.65
- Total Yards: 372.47
- Pass Yards: 256.47
- Rush Yards: 116
- Average Score Against: 21.24
- Total Yards: 367
- Pass Yards: 243.94
- Rush Yards: 123.06
Expert Analysis and Prediction for Texans vs Chiefs
This one looks like a fairly easy call to me, seeing as how Houston has the far better set of backup quarterbacks and the preseason is mostly about how these backup signal-callers play. Again, Bill O’Brien takes the preseason a little more seriously than Andy Reid and those two factors will be what drives the Texans to the road win in their preseason opener!
NFL Preseason Week 1 Pick: Houston Texans +2.5
