Broncos vs. Texans Spread Prediction
The Houston Texans have won five straight games and acquired Demaryius Thomas earlier this week. Thomas will face his former team right away when the Texans visit the Broncos at 4:05 p.m. ET today. Will Houston pull off a small upset?
Game Snapshot
465 Houston Texans at 466 Denver Broncos
4:05 p.m. ET, Sunday, November 4
Broncos Stadium at Mile High, Denver, Colorado
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Broncos are 1-point favorites to beat the Texans. The total, meanwhile, sits at 46 points. As of this writing, 59% of the public betting tickets are on the Texans to cover the point spread.
Houston Texans
Keke Coutee (hamstring) won’t play in Week 9 against the Broncos. Coutee and CB Aaron Colvin (ankle) aren’t traveling with the team to Denver. Hybrid RB/WR Tyler Ervin should see a majority of slot reps without Coutee, but the team could scale back three-wide sets altogether and feature Ryan Griffin and Jordan Thomas in multiple tight end alignments instead. The rookie’s absence is an uptick for DeAndre Hopkins, who should see all the targets he can handle with Ervin and new arrival Demaryius Thomas alongside him.
Denver Broncos
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Royce Freeman (ankle) is not expected to play Week 9 against the Texans. Reportedly dealing with a high-ankle sprain, it would have been a stretch for Freeman to return just two weeks after suffering the injury. He appears close, however, and should be ready to go following Denver’s Week 10 bye. With Freeman out, Phillip Lindsay will once again work as the No. 1 with Devontae Booker filling in on passing downs.
NFL Betting Trends
Houston
The Texans are 3-10 against the spread in their last 13 games overall and 2-5 ATS in their last seven road games.
Denver
The Broncos are 2-6-1 against the spread in their last nine home games and 5-14-1 ATS in their last 20 games overall.
Prediction
This game has “trap” written all over it. The Texans are catching a point here? Why? Why aren’t the favored coming off five consecutive victories and playing against a Broncos team that just traded them their top receiver? Makes no sense. Public bettors are all over Houston but the Texans won a handful of games already that could have went either way and now they have to travel to Denver, which is a tough place to win regardless of how poorly the Broncos are playing. This one smells fishy and I’m going to trust my instincts on this one and lay the point.
NFL Week 9 Prediction: Denver Broncos -1