The Houston Texans are on the road taking on the Carolina Panthers in NFL Football action Sunday. The game is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on CBS. Currently the NFL Odds for the game have Carolina listed as a favorite to pick up the victory.
Carolina comes in having beat up on Jacksonville last week to earn their first victory. The Panthers are going to be without their star defensive captain Luke Kuechly, who has been ruled out with a concussion. Carolina held the Jaguars to only nine points last week, Blake Bortles threw for only 183 yards and Jacksonville rushed for only 96, never really getting a consistent offensive threat going in the game.
Houston should pose a bigger threat that what Jacksonville brought, though the Texans will be starting Ryan Mallett at the quarterback spot. Carolina will be looking to bring a lot of pressure against Mallett and the Texans offense, but getting after him without Kuechly will be a bit tougher. Mallett saw some time last week under center, he completed eight passes for 98 yards and a touchdown.
The Texans have covered the number five times in the last six road openers, but with the spread in this game being just around a field goal, they might have to win outright on the field. Houston still won’t have Arian Foster on the field, Alfred Blue led the way with 42 yards on nine carries, and nobody else had anything worth noting.
Carolina will look for a big game from Cam Netwon. He didn’t have a good game last week, but still led the Panthers to the win. The Panthers have been able to win when Newton doesn’t play well in the past, the defense has been able to find a way to come up big. That Panther defense is going to have to show up again in this one, whether Mallet is a green quarterback or not.
The Panthers will run the football consistently in this one and the defense will still play solid despite the loss of Kuechly. Houston is going to have an uphill battle at 0-2.
Free Pick: Carolina
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