The NFL Wild Card Playoffs first game sees the Houston Texans playing host to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Latest NFL Lines for this game has the Texans as -3 point spread favorites which is where the line opened. The over under total opened at O/U 39 and has moved a full point to currently rest at O/U 38. In current NFL Odds markets the Texans are -160 (1.63) while the Bengals are offered at around +144 (2.44).
1st in the AFC South, the Houston Texans finished the regular season with a 10-6 straight up record and a 5-3 home record. Overall they averaged 23.81 points per game while conceding an average of 17.38 which gives them a positive point's differential of (+6.43). In NFL wagering results the Texans are 9-5-2 against the closing NFL point spread, 7-9 in over under results and show a profit of +$123 against the opening moneyline odds and +$48 against the closing (for $100 bets each week).
Houston Texans with Matt Schaub, with T.J. Yates
Houston's first ten games saw them go 7-3, with Matt Schaub at quarterback they were averaging 27.3 points per game while only conceding an average of 16.5 for a healthy (+10.80) points differential. With Schaub out of the picture, T.J. Yates took over at QB for the remainder of the season. In those six games the Texans went 3-3 averaging 18 points per game and allowing 18.67 for a negative differential of (-.67). Against the closing point spread with T.J. Yates at the helm the Texans went 2-2-2 and they had a 2-4 over under record.
The Cincinnati Bengals finished 3rd in the AFC North with a 9-7 straight up record. Through out the regular season the Bengals averaged 21.5 points per game on offense while allowing an average of 20.19 on defense, for a differential of (+1.31). Cincinnati actually ended the regular season with a stronger road record than home, going 5-3 on the road and 4-4 at home. In NFL betting results the Bengals went 8-6-2 against the closing point spread, 11-5 in over under betting and showed a profit of +$175 against their opening money line odds and +$149 against their closing ($100 bets each week).
These two teams met in week 14 when the Texans came from behind to beat the Bengals (20-19) in Cincinnati. The closing lines for that game saw the Bengals close as -2.5 point spread favorites with a closing over under line of O/U 37.5. In fact that was the last time the Texans tasted victory as they finished the season 0-3 with losses to CAR (13-28), IND (16-19) and TEN (22-23). Cincinnati's last 3 games of the regular season saw them go 2-1 with wins over STL (20-13) and ARI (23-16) while they fell short last week against BAL (16-24).
The verdict - TheFootballLines.com's numbers pretty much agree with those that the leading sportsbooks have posted and therefore we won't have any action on this game at this stage.