Josh McDaniels has had some hard luck losses in his first year as Las Vegas head coach, but he can’t afford many more at 1-4, already three back in the win column to the Chargers and Chiefs in the AFC West. That makes the Texans at Raiders betting matchup a must win for Las Vegas.
Houston (1-3-1) and Las Vegas are both coming off their bye last weekend, and the Raiders are a -7 point favorite for this week 7 afternoon tilt. The problem with the Texans’ poor start to the season is the fact they’ve played one of the easiest schedules in the league thus far, while the Raiders have played three division leaders and a decent Arizona squad. Just 56% of the betting public like the Raiders to cover the TD spread here.
Not a Lot to Like About Houston
Lovie Smith hasn’t been known to have many offensive juggernauts during his tenure as an NFL head coach, and that has continued in 2022 with the Texans ranking 30th in yards/game (291.2). The real shocker for the Texans this season is that their defense has been just as bad too, allowing the second most yards/game in the league (414) which includes 168 ypg on the ground.
Houston has been kind of a bend-but-don’t-break defense this year as they have given up just 19.8 ppg, but look at some of the offenses they’ve played too. That list includes the Colts (20-20 tie), Broncos (L 9-16), Bears (L 20-23), and Jaguars (W 13-6).
When the Texans did go up against a competent offense they gave up 34 points to the Chargers. They gave up 340 yards passing to Justin Herbert in that game and Mike Williams caught 7 balls for 120 yards. That bodes well for the Derek Carr – Davante Adams connection on Sunday afternoon.
Raiders Have Been Close
It’s a small consolation but the Raiders are the best 1-4 team in the league. Las Vegas could easily be 5-0 as they’ve lost by one score to the Chargers (24-19), Cardinals (29-23), Titans (24-2), and Chiefs (30-29). Of course losing close games could also be a sign of a bad team, not a good one.
Las Vegas did put up a fight with the one-point loss in Kansas City in week five with Josh Jacobs running for 154 yards and a TD. The Texans have one of the worst rush defenses in the league so it should be another big day for Jacobs (O/U 84.5 yards).
The Raiders traded for Davante Adams this offseason to win games like the Chiefs matchup, but he did all he could with 124 yards receiving and 2 TDs. Adams has 100+ in 3 of 5 games this season and has grabbed 5 TDs.
Free Texans at Raiders Betting Pick
This one looks like a game where Las Vegas gets on track. They’ve got the Saints, Jaguars, Colts, Broncos, and Seahawks the next six games so we could easily see a long win streak. That starts with one though, and coming off the bye, being at home, and having so many close defeats this season is incentive for the Raiders to get right here.
Free Pick: Raiders -7
