The Houston Texans can’t do it in the regular season and they’ve failed in the playoffs. So now they’ll try and beat the New England Patriots during Week 2 of the NFL preseason when the teams meet for the first time ever in games that don’t count. The Pats easily handled the Texans in both meetings last season, including a romp in Foxboro in the divisional round of the playoffs, and essentially ended the brief career of Brock Osweiler in Houston. These two hook up in five weeks when they game does count and both will look a lot different then.
The Week 2 preseason contest between the New England Patriots and Houston Texans will take place Saturday, August 19, 2017, at 8 p.m. ET at NRG Stadium.
Opening NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
New England Patriots +1
Houston Texans -1
Over/Under 39.5
Odds Analysis
The Texans have a bone to pick with the Pats and being at home gives them a slight edge with the oddsmakers. We likely won’t see Brady and some other big names for the Pats will take the night off, so they get 1-point to even out the odds. Houston would like to beat New England and it doesn’t matter when. Look for the home team to cover the spread in a close game.
Quarterback Rotation
Tom Brady doesn’t have many years left now that he’s turned the big 4-0, so don’t expect to see him on the field Saturday. The preseason is also the best chance for Jimmy Garoppolo to showcase his skills and he did that last week by hitting 22 of 28 pass attempts for 235 yards and a pair of scores. Jacoby Brissett also played and hit 8 of 13 throws for 88 yards.
One thing about Bill Belichick is that he’s unpredictable during the preseason games. The Pats and Jags had several days of joint practices before last week’s opener and the coach sat 40 players. The Pats and Texans will also practice together in advance of Saturday’s game and we could see the same. Garoppolo played the entire first half and the first two series of the second before giving way to Brissett.
Tom Savage is still the Texans’ starter, according to Bill O’Brien, but Deshaun Watson is making the decision much tougher. The two are expected to see action Saturday against New England after both had decent showings in the preseason opener. Savage played three series at the start of last week’s game, leading the team to a touchdown on the final drive. He completed 9 of 11 passes for 69 yards.
Watson was sharp in his debut, throwing for 179 yards and running for a touchdown, but there is still room for improvement. With Savage being tabbed the starter it’s imperative he gets some reps. He’s been with the team for four years but he’s played in only five regular season games and has just two starts. The rotation will look similar to what we saw last week in Carolina with Brandon Weeden taking a few snaps as well.
Coaching History
Belichick doesn’t give a hoot about winning during the preseason and if you thought otherwise just look at what happened last week. After several combined practices with the Jaguars, he sat nearly half his roster in the preseason opener and the Pats lost to Jacksonville. The Pats have had only one losing preseason record in the past eight under Belichick, so the team does make the necessary adjustments. They’ll have to clean things up defensively after allowing several big plays to the Jags, but you can expect them to do that.
O’Brien saw his Texans lose a preseason game for the first time in two years when they fell in Carolina in the opener. Houston swept and covered all four last season and split its exhibition games the previous two seasons. In all the Texans are 8-5 SU and ATS while the under is 9-4 during O’Brien’s tenure.
Free ATS Pick
We may see a few more New England players actually get in the game than we saw last week when Belichick held a number of his guys out. We didn’t see the first team offensive playmakers and it’s doubtful that Brady or Rob Gronkowski get in the game. Still, the Pats put up good numbers last week behind Garoppolo.
We’ve seen the Pats make the adjustments time and time again, even in the exhibition games. The defense was torched by several big plays from the Jags, including a 97-yard touchdown pass and a 79-yard scoring run. You know that didn’t sit well with Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, so expect a better defensive showing against the Texans.
This is a big game for the psyche of the Texans, who were manhandled twice by the Pats last season. If Houston is to be a player in the AFC, beating the Pats, even in the preseason, would go a long way towards making them think that.
NFL Odds: Texans 22, Patriots 20
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