For 17 weeks of regular season football, we watched all 32 teams compete to make the NFL playoffs, where truly anything can happen. The term “Any Given Sunday” exists for a reason, as we even saw the 17-point favorite New England Patriots lose to the lowly Miami Dolphins in the most crucial game of Week 17.
Full Game Preview: Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans
Now it’s time to watch the best teams play each other for a chance to advance through the playoffs, before playing in Super Bowl LIV on February 2nd in Miami.
We’re all hoping that maybe this is somehow our team’s year while preparing for the worst. There will be upsets, questionable decisions, and of course a few bad calls along the way (sorry Saints fans).
Let’s enjoy this last month of football and win some money along the way.
Breaking Down the Bills and Texans to Figure Out The Best Pick
The Line: Buffalo Bills +3 (-120) at Houston Texans : Over/Under/Total: 44
Josh Allen & the Buffalo Bills head to Houston to take on Deshaun Watson and his Houston Texans to kick off Wild Card weekend.
To be frank, both teams have had major ups and downs this season. The Texans beat the Patriots but got stomped by the Ravens and Broncos while the Bills only win against a playoff team came against a Titans team quarterbacked by Marcus Mariota.
Neither seems like a serious contender for the Super Bowl, but one of these teams will be celebrating on Saturday.
Injury Situation:
The biggest injury news comes from Houston as Pro-Bowler and future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt is expected to return from injured reserve just in time for the playoffs. He won’t be at full strength, but Watt can do plenty of damage even on limited snaps.
As the Texans get Watt back, they lose wideout Will Fuller who is expected to miss Saturday’s game with a groin injury.
Biggest Matchup: DeAndre Hopkins vs Tre’Davious White
Without Will Fuller, the sole focus in the Texans offense is star receiver, DeAndre Hopkins. Most teams are forced to double him in all key situations, but former LSU Tiger Tre’Davious White is a stud cornerback who’s lack of media attention comes from playing in Buffalo. He has all the skills to not shut down Hopkins, but limit the damage he does.
Without Fuller, Hopkins should expect some extra help shaded his way as the Bills are positioned extremely well to slow down the electrifying Deshaun Watson.
Analysis and Pick for Bills at Texans
I have plenty of faith in the talent this Texans team has, but I have no faith in their head coach Bill O’Brien. Week after week he makes puzzling decisions that hurt his team’s chances to win the football game. In the regular season talent usually wins out, but coaching becomes even more important in the playoffs.
Bills coach Sean McDermott had impressed this year with his elite defense giving up just 16.2 points per game, good enough to be the NFL’s No. 2 scoring D this season.
On offense, Devin Singletary has finally taken over the lead-back role from Frank Gore, while John Brown quietly had over 1,000 receiving yards.
Josh Allen is definitely a question mark in his first playoff game. I do love that he’s become a better passer in Year Two, throwing for over 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns with just nine interceptions.
He also had nine rushing TD’s in 2019 and ran for 95+ yards four times in his rookie season. Look for Allen to run the ball a bit more in a win or go home situation against a shaky Texans defense.
Quieting all those who declared he’d be a bust, Allen and the Bills offense will score enough as their defense will leads the way to a cover and potentially a road victory.
