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After two games on the road, the Houston Texans are heading back home. They and the Cincinnati Bengals will compete for holiday cheer at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday at NRG Stadium. Cincinnati will be strutting in after a victory while the Texans will be stumbling in from a loss.
Houston came up short against the Indianapolis Colts last week, falling 27-20. A silver lining for Houston was the play of QB Deshaun Watson, who passed for two TDs and 373 yards on 41 attempts.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati was expected to lose against the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Monday, but instead they received a nice stocking stuffer. Cincinnati was able to grind out a solid win over Pittsburgh, winning 27-17. RB Giovani Bernard and QB Ryan Finley were among the main playmakers for the Bengals as the former punched in one rushing touchdown in addition to snatching one receiving TD and the latter passed for one TD and 89 yards on 13 attempts in addition to rushing for one TD and 47 yards. Finley ended up with a passer rating of 136.70.
Cincinnati's win brought them up to 3-10-1 while Houston's defeat pulled them down to 4-10. Neither squad can make the playoffs, so they're playing for draft order now.
Houston is the favorite in this one, with an expected 7.5-point margin of victory. Their home turf has been no bettor's paradise, though, as they've failed to beat the spread in four of their six home games.
A couple offensive stats to keep in the back of your head while watching: Houston is worst in the NFL in rushing yards per game, with only 86 on average. The Bengals have experienced some struggles of their own as they are stumbling into the matchup with the third fewest overall offensive touchdowns in the league, having accrued only 28 on the season. It's possible one of these Achilles' heels will wind up tripping the losing team up.
