The Houston Texans will be without star defensive end J.J. Watt when they play host to the AFC South rival Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon as five-point betting favourites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Watt will be lost for at least eight weeks after suffering a back injury in last week’s 27-0 loss to New England, which left Houston with a narrow one-game lead in the division. According to website PredictionMachine.com, Watt’s loss drops the Texans’ chances of beating the Titans on Sunday from 58.3 per cent to 55.8 per cent.
The Texans faced a ferocious Patriots defence last week and produced under 300 total yards for the first time in six games while ending a two-game straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) road win streak.
Tennessee took a step back last week after mounting a fourth-quarter comeback in a 16-15 win in Detroit two weeks ago, as they struggled to produce offence in a 17-10 loss in Oakland. The Titans defence stood tall while keeping the Raiders outside the Tennessee 40 throughout the second half, but has allowed over 42 points per game in four straight SU and ATS losses to Houston.
This weekend’s other AFC South matchup takes place at London’s Wembley Stadium, where the winless Jacksonville Jaguars host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday morning as 2.5-point underdogs.
The Jaguars have yet to discover their offensive touch this season, mustering just 18 points per game in three straight losses, and are 0-6 SU in their past six but 2-1 ATS this season.
Indianapolis earned its first win of the season in spectacular fashion last week, as Andrew Luck connected late on his sixth touchdown pass of the year in the Colts’ 26-22 win over San Diego as slim 1.5-point home chalk.
The Colts are still smarting from a 51-16 loss to Jacksonville in Week 14 of last season, which ended their six-game SU winning streak against the Jaguars.
Elsewhere, the Denver Broncos will try to stay undefeated as they visit Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as three-point favourites. The Broncos shut down the Bengals in last week’s 29-17 win in Cincinnati as 3.5-point underdogs, and now must contain Winston, who threw for over 400 yards and three scores in a 37-32 loss to Los Angeles last week that dropped them to 1-2 SU and ATS.
And the undefeated Minnesota Vikings have emerged as solid five-point betting favourites in a Monday Night Football matchup with the New York Giants following an impressive 22-10 win in Carolina.
