The Houston Texans (1-0) will travel west to take on the Los Angeles Rams (1-0) in Week 2 of the preseason. Friday’s kickoff will be at 10 p.m. ET from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook‘s lines around the Texans vs. Rams odds, and make our best NFL picks, predictions and bets.
The Texans beat the New Orleans Saints 17-13 at home in their preseason opener. QB Davis Mills only attempted 3 passes and completed all of them for a total of 14 yards, but he’ll likely play more in the 2nd game as the regular season approaches.
The Rams won a back-and-forth game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday night, beating their in-town opponents 29-22. QB Matthew Stafford and the rest of the team’s starters did not play and they won’t play against the Texans either. Sean McVay likes to play it safe with his top players.
Texans at Rams nickname odds
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 2:32 p.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): Texans -130 (bet $130 to win $100) | Rams +105 (bet $100 to win $105)
- Against the spread (ATS): Texans -2.5 (-108) | Rams +2.5 (-112)
- Over/Under (O/U): 38.5 (O: -108 | U: -112)
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Texans at Rams picks and predictions
Prediction
Texans 21, Rams 20
Money line
The Texans should have an advantage in this game for the simple fact that they’ll play their starters and the Rams will not. It remains to be seen how many drives Houston’s starters will play, but there’s a 0% chance we see Stafford, WR Cooper Kupp or DT Aaron Donald – among many others – in this one for the Rams.
However, the Rams looked good in the opener and will remain competitive with their backups. I would PASS on the ML though.
Against the spread
There were 5 games decided by 3 or fewer points during the first week of the preseason. There were also a total of 12 games decided by 1 score, so Week 1 featured a lot of close contests.
For that reason, along with the impressive play of Rams QB Bryce Perkins, I like the RAMS +2.5 (-112) to cover the spread.
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Over/Under
The Rams offense took a little while to get going against the Chargers, as did Houston’s. But I think both teams will ride a little bit of momentum into this matchup and put up more points. Plus, the Texans’ starters will probably get more run this week, which could lead to a higher-scoring 1st half than last week.
Bet the OVER 38.5 (-108).
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