Houston Texans @ Philadelphia Eagles: Houston +1 – Evens
A couple of weeks ago, the Texans would’ve been giving up points on the road in this one.
They lost their unbeaten streak a fortnight ago, as predicted here, and followed that up with a rote win at the Jets last week. That saw them climb into the second seed in the AFC playoff standings.
PaddyPower.com is a touchdown for NFL oddsMeanwhile, the Eagles rescued their season with a huge upset of the Rams on Sunday night, a win made all the more remarkable given they’d to draft in their back up QB Nick Foles – admittedly a Super Bowl MVP, but still one of the more streaky members of that exclusive club – to dig them out with Carson Wentz unable to suit up.
Like his team, Foles is consistently inconsistent, so I’d rather look at the Texans, who may not be as good as their record and easy schedule makes them seem, but who still feel a safer shot than Philly here.
They’ve plenty to play for with others on their tail in the AFC standings, so I have no doubt about their effort in this spot and they can definitely take the Eagles down. Grab the Texans with the points.
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Miami Dolphins: Miami -3.5 – 20/21
There’s a huge question about the Jaguars enthusiasm for this one. Last week, they somehow found themselves leading the Redskins early, but were pegged back and then left languishing as their coaching staff rested starters, seemingly comfortable in the knowledge that they’ll be back next year.
You’d wonder if they should be so confident.
They’re among the biggest disappointments in the league this year and will be desperately seraching for a new QB come the offseason.
Cody Kessler holds the role for now, but his elevation has actually seen the Jaguars get worse on offence. Sure, they won one game from three, but that was 6-0, and in the other two games they’ve never looked very threatening offensively.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins are surely still feeling a tingle from the miraculous win over the Pats two weeks back – not even last Sunday’s (not entirely surprising) tonking by the Vikings can have dragged their feet back to the floor.
Now, they’re back home, they still have the slimmest of playoff shots, and just look like a much better team than Jacksonville do right now. Add in the fact the Jags seem to be phoning in the last few weeks of the season, and -3.5 is very appealing.
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*All odds correct at time of posting