A busy Christmas Eve in the NFL concludes with the late game which this week is an all-AFC battle which comes from Houston as the Texans take on the Cincinnati Bengals in the penultimate game of the campaign for both sides.
The Houston Texans go into the match knowing their postseason fate is in their own hands. If they win out they will win the AFC South but defeat in either of their last two matches open the door to others. Cincinnati have been out of playoff contention for a while.
Houston Texans
There have been plenty of ups and downs for the Texans this season but somehow they go into this week with an 8-6 record and more importantly they are unbeaten in their division which is how they control their own destiny. If results have gone their way earlier in the night they could actually secure the division with a win but it is likely to go down to next week even if they win here.
Brock Osweiler has been in the news recently and now it has been announced that he has been dropped and Tom Savage will be the starter for this match highlighting just what a waste of money the former Denver quarterback has been. Luckily for the Texans a combination of a crack defence, a solid running game and an awful division have them still in playoff contention.
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals saw a two match winning streak snapped last week when they went down to the Pittsburgh Steelers which means their last two matches sees them playing purely for pride. You would think they would want to get something out of those matches but injuries have decimated their season and that remains the case here.
Cincinnati were already without Gio Bernard for the rest of the season but they were hoping to have AJ Green back for this one. That isn’t going to be the case though and now they are without Tyler Eifert too so if they are going to get this done it will have to be on the ground and on defence.
Betting
This is a tricky match to bet on. I say that because if the Tennessee Titans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier in the night then this match becomes effectively a dead rubber from a competitive point of view. Should the Titans win then the AFC South title will be decided when Houston and Tennessee meet next week so you just wonder how much intensity would be in this one.
Whether there is intensity in the game or not I’m not expecting a classic. These are two poor sides regardless of their records this season. One side in Cincinnati has an injury battered offense while the other is going to give a quarterback his first start so I’m not expecting an overload of points here. Both sides are pretty astute defensively so unless there are turnovers and defensive points I’m expecting less than 42pts.
Tips
WON – Back Under 42.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
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