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Published: December 22, 2009
The 7-7 Houston Texans will do battle with the 7-7 Miami Dolphins in an NFL pro football game on Sunday afternoon with major playoff implications. Kick off time in Miami is scheduled for 1PM Eastern Time with regional television coverage provided by CBS. The LVSC NFL odds makers have set the opening point spread in this contest and the Miami Dolphins opened as a 3 point favorite with the over under coming in at 45 ½. The early money from the NFL betting public has come in on the road underdog Houston Texans, as the Miami Dolphins are currently a 2-½ point favorite. The total has seen early movement in the betting towards the under, as the total is currently lined at 45. NFL money line gamblers who would like to make a play on the favored Miami Dolphins will find them lined at –145 with the underdog Houston Texans returning +125 to win with no need for the points on their side.
The Houston Texans enter this game with a harder than expected victory at the St Louis Rams 16-13. The Texans have now won two games in a row with their defense allowing a combined 20 points in those games. Texan quarterback Matt Schaub had a huge game in the stat line hitting on 28 of 40 passing for 367 yards a touchdown and no picks. Schaub has been very accurate hitting on no less than 70% of his passes over his past 4 games. Schaub on the year is hitting on 68% of his passes with 25 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Houston has a profile in the NFL for playing their best football when the team has no pressure but often falters in huge divisional games and spots such as this one late in the season with an outside show at a playoff spot. Houston has been shuffling their running backs looking for someone to step up. The team is averaging just 3.3 yards a carry. Second year back Steve Slaton has been benched and has not seen action the past three games. Houston has been an improved defense allowing 20 points per game. The Texans are suddenly 12th in the NFL is pass defense allowing just 210 yards passing per game. That is a huge improvement over previous Texans squads. Though 6 teams are tied at 7-7 and 1 game behind for a wildcard spot the Texans are last among these 6 teams with a very poor 4-6 AFC conference record. Miami has a 5-5 record versus the AFC. The Dolphins are coming off a disappointing 27-24 overtime loss to the Tennessee Titans last week. The team rallied from a 24-6 deficit to force overtime with a huge fourth quarter rally. But after winning the coin toss in overtime it was a Chad Henne interception costing the Dolphins a huge win. The second year signal caller had three huge picks in defeat. The mistakes overshadowed a 29 of 46 passing day for 349 yards. With Ronnie Brown out with an injury it has been Ricky Williams seeing the bulk of the carries. He produced 80 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown. Williams is averaging 4.8 yards a carry on the season. But his production has been way down recently with a game no better than 4.3 yards a carry over his past four contests. Miami’s secondary has been the teams Achilles heel all season long in giving up big plays. The Dolphins are 32nd and last in the NFL allowing 13.5 yards per reception. That is a huge concern for Miami facing an explosive passing attack from the Texans.
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NFL Trend: Houston Texans are 6-1 to the under in their 7 road games this season
