Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Texans, Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX
Sunday, October 17, 2010, 1:00 pm EST, TV: CBS
Opening Line: Texans -3.5
Current Line: Texans -4
Opening Total: 44
Current Total: 44.5
Money Line: Texans -210 / Chiefs +180
The Kansas City Chiefs (3-1) were the last unbeaten team to fall last week when they lost 19-9 at Indianapolis, and now they will look to avoid consecutive defeats against another AFC South opponent when they visit the Houston Texans (3-2). The Chiefs played the Colts tough for three quarters while the favored Texans (-4 on the current NFL betting lines) were never really in their game last week and hope to improve to 2-2 at home after suffering their second straight loss there.
Houston is coming off a 34-10 shellacking by the Giants, trailing 24-3 at halftime and never showing any signs of a comeback. Texans running back Arian Foster was limited to 25 yards on 11 carries and quarterback Matt Schaub was 16 of 34 for 196 yards with no touchdowns and one interception despite having star wide receiver Andre Johnson on the field. Johnson is still recovering from a high ankle sprain and played through the pain with five catches for 95 yards.
Linebacker Brian Cushing returned to action for Houston in the loss to New York following a four-game suspension for taking performance-enhancing drugs, but he injured his knee and missed some time earlier in the week before practicing on Thursday. The Texans definitely would like to see a bigger impact made by the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year because they have given up at least 24 points in every one of their five games this season.
Kansas City is averaging just 12.5 points in two road games so far this year compared to scoring 26 per game at home. The Chiefs played very well defensively at Indy last week though, limiting quarterback Peyton Manning to 244 passing yards and no touchdowns with one interception.
Matt Cassel has taken some criticism for his small passing numbers this season, but KC’s running game has more than made up for it. The Chiefs are tied for second in the NFL with 148.8 rushing yards per game but rank 30th in the league in passing offense with 162.5 yards per game. Cassel may have an excellent opportunity to air it out against a Houston pass defense that is surrendering an NFL-worst 329.6 yards per game.
The Texans have been much better stopping the run, allowing 79.6 yards per game. They will be focused on stopping the two-headed monster of Kansas City running backs Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones. Charles rushed for a game-high 87 yards against the Colts on 16 carries while Jones added 19 yards on eight attempts, but neither was able to find the end zone.
The road team has won three of the last four regular-season meetings between the teams both straight-up and against the spread. The Chiefs are 6-2 ATS in their last eight road games.
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