Texans vs Patriots Betting Line
Published on January 8th, 2013 2:27 pm ESTThe Houston Texans will head to New England to take on the New England Patriots in one of this weekend's AFC playoff games.
Despite finishing the regular season with identical 12-4 records, the New England Patriots are 10 point favorites to beat the Texans this weekend.
The Texans, who got their regular season campaign off to a stellar start, stumbled down the stretch, costing themselves home field advantage throughout the playoffs, as well as a first round bye. The Patriots, on the other hand, were playing lights out football in the second half of the season and finished as one of the league's hottest teams.
In addition, the Patriots embarrassed the Texans 42-14 earlier in the season, which helped send the Texans into their late season spiral. The Texans will be looking to avenge this embarrassing loss, but playing in New England at this time of year isn't the easiest task in the world, especially for a team that is used to playing in a warm climate.
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The Texans' defense is going to have their hands full dealing with the potent Patriots' offense. The Patriots, led by the steady hand of Tom Brady, averaged nearly 35 points per game this season, nearly 5 points per game ahead of the next closest team, the Denver Broncos.
It's a near certainty that the Patriots will put up a minimum of 28 points this weekend against the Texans. This means that Matt Schaub will need to play one of the best games of his career in order to out-duel Tom Brady. Schaub struggled down the stretch and will need to step up big time in order to lead his team to a victory.
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Here are the current betting odds for the Texans/Patriots game on Sunday:
Houston Texans, +10, -115
New England Patriots, -10, -105
It's nearly impossible to beat Tom Brady and the Patriots at Gillette Stadium this time of year - can the Texans shock the world?
