NFL Picks – Do Ya Like Offense? Texans and Eagles Start Week 13 Off in Style

The Houston Texans, fresh off a shutout win meet the high flying Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night to start of the NFL betting Picks weekend.

Both defenses are struggling at present – this should be high scoring and it should be fun!

Thursday, December 2, 8:20 PM ET

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HOUSTON TEXANS (5-6) vs. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (7-4)

Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Broadcast: NFL Network

NFL Picks Lines:

Houston: +8 ½ (-110)

Philadelphia: -8 ½ (-110)

Moneyline: Off

Total: 51 points

There is nobody, I mean nobody whose NFL Picks included a shutout by the Houston Texans defense last week. Houston kept their slim playoff hopes alive by playing perhaps their most complete game of the season last Sunday. Now comes an even bigger challenge – the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field!

Houston’s passing game is ranked 15th (235.18 yards per game). Matt Schaub has been good and Andre Johnson has been superb as per usual. Their numbers have declined this season because of one man – Arian Foster. He leads the NFL in rushing (1147 yards) and he has the Texans running game ranked 7th (132.55 yards per game). He has 12 touchdowns on the season. Foster is the quintessential triple threat back – he’s big, fast and he is an excellent receiver.

Houston’s problem has been the defense – period! They are 31st against the pass and 18th against the run. The defense has been giving up over 26 points per game as well. However, there is some light on the horizon – this unit that gave up 29 points in the four games prior to Sunday’s shutout held Chris Johnson to five yards rushing and held the Titans offense to 162 total yards.

The Philadelphia Eagles were NFL Picks to defeat the Bears last week, but they ran into a hot defense and they clearly missed Asante Samuel in their secondary. The Eagles offense was exposed just a little by the Bears – it will be interesting to see if the Texans learned anything at all.

Mike Vick threw his first interception of the season last week, but is still responsible for 18 touchdowns (13 throwing and 5 rushing). He was good last week despite the loss, but he was uncharacteristically sacked four times. The Eagles will need their 3rd ranked rushing offense (146.64 yards per game) to keep the defense honest and create some time for the 8th ranked passing game (252.64 yards per game). DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant and Brent Celek are immense weapons that will give the Texans fits.

Defensively, the Eagles 11th ranked run defense will have its hands full with Arian Foster. They gave up 131 yards last week to the 20th ranked Bears running game. The 13th ranked pass defense will need a healthy Asante Samuel to slow down Andre Johnson – they gave up four touchdowns last week to the bottom third Bears passing offense.

NFL Picks Outlook:

The Houston Texans are 1-4 SU in their last five games and are 2-5 ATS in their last seven. However, Houston is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games as road underdog.

The Philadelphia Eagles are 5-2 SU in their last seven games and are 6-2 SU in their last eight at home. They are 2-4 ATS in their last six games at home and are 2-5 ATS at home against teams with losing records.

The Texans finally put it all together on Sunday, but it was against the Titans third string quarterback. I think that they can score some points against the Eagles defense especially if Asante Samuel is forced to sit. The problem is that the Eagles offense is too fast and too skilled for the Texans awful defense to handle. I like the Eagles to win but in a close, high scoring affair.

NFL Picks: Houston Texans +8 ½ and the Over