The Texans hosted, and beat, the 49ers in Week 1, 23-10, and will get a chance to go 2-0 at home while the Broncos got their Week 1 win on the road—against the Seahawks no less—and will look to do the same thing here in Week 2.
ODDS ANALYSIS
Houston currently sits as a 3-point home chalk with the total lined at 41.
Motivation is key in picking a winner. Each team already has a win under the belt, but the Broncos have several players—and a coach—that likely feel slighted by the Texans after they were let go.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Broncos have their quarterback set while it’s an intense battle in Houston. Each Texans quarterback will need to play at the top of their game while Peyton Manning and company are just looking get ready for the regular season.
QUARTERBACK ROTATION
The quarterback battle in Houston is still going strong as Ryan Mallett gets the start against the Broncos, though Brian Hoyer started Week 1 and both he and Tom Savage should play in this one as well.
They each got time in Week 1 and played well against the 49ers. Hoyer only got a single series, but made it count going 2-for-4 with 67 yards and a touchdown while Savage also recorded a touchdown and completed eight of his 14 passes.
While Mallett didn’t make it into the end zone, he was productive, completing 10 of 11 passes for 90 yards.
Manning may see his first action of the year on Saturday, but once again, the backups will get most of the work.
Brock Osweiler had a huge game for Denver against Seattle, throwing for 151 yards and a score.
COACHES' MOTIVATION
There is some interesting motivation in this game for Bronco’s head coach Gary Kubiak. The former Texans head coach will be going up against his former team and the coach, Bill O’Brien, who replaced him.
Last year, O’Brien’s Texans were just 2-2 ATS in the preseason while Kubiak has shown a tendency to exceed expectations in the exhibition season as his teams are now 20-11-2 ATS.
Another interesting coaching take is related to defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. The defensive wiz had his unit playing great in the opener, particularly against the pass and the team will look to once again dispel the notion that their defense is weak.
QUOTE TO NOTE
In case you’re looking for some indication who has the upper hand in the Houston quarterback battle, O’Brien has yet to tip his hand, saying this after the first game:
“All three of those guys operated the offense efficiently. When I looked at that position, I thought they played consistently, reacted pretty well to things that came up during the game they hadn’t seen in training camp.”
POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH
With Arian Foster injured, the Texans’ running back battle is one of the most interesting to keep an eye on in this game.
In the first game, Alfred Blue recorded 59 yards on nine carries while Chris Polk added 29 rushing yards and 36 receiving. To further complicate things, the team also has Kenny Hilliard and Jonathan Grimes in competition for the top spot. Grimes produced the least of anyone in Week 1, but Hilliard had 39 yards rushing.
INJURIES
The Broncos have a few receivers down including Emmanuel Sanders and Kyle Williams. Williams has an Achilles injury while the team’s second leading receiver from a year ago, Sanders, has been dealing with hamstring issues.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The special teams struggled in Week 1 and the team failed to turn solid drives into touchdowns, but the Broncos played well in their opener and showed improvements on defense while running effective drives that at least ended in field goals on offense.
There were some new wrinkles with pitch plays and runs more than the typical shotgun pass plays the fans in Denver have grown accustom to with Manning under center.
Given the big game from Ronnie Hillman on the ground, coupled with the above, there is a lot to be excited about in Denver and add in motivation to win for Kubiak as well as others like tight end Owen Daniels, I’m going with the Broncos to record another road win on Saturday.
Denver 23, Houston 21
The NFL odds for this Sunday contest were first released by BookMaker and the Texans were positioned as 3-point favorites with a total of 41. Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's live betting option.
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