The Houston Texans won the AFC South last season but not by a wide margin. With the Indianapolis Colts shoring up their lineup and with a healthier Andrew Luck, the Texans are pressed to sustain their hold of their throne in the division, which they are +400 to win this season. The Green Bay Packers, on the other hand, are preparing for a bounce-back campaign after missing the playoffs in 2018. The Packers are +200 to rule the NFC North again.
It’s not really about winning or losing in the preseason. For the Texans, it’s seeing whether they’ve made progress in some areas they stank in 2018. Among those is their offensive line that allowed a dizzying total of 62 sacks last season, the most in the entire NFL. This is the biggest reason why the Texans selected Tytus Howard and Max Scharping — both offensive tackles — in the first and the second round, respectively. However, the quarterbacks they are going to help protect from the Packers’ pass rush will not likely include Deshaun Watson. Instead, look for CJ McCarron and Joe Webb to share the duties under center, as they continue their battle for the backup splot in the quarterback position. The Texans will also be giving rookie tight end Kahale Warring some time to shine in Week 1 of the preseason at least, as he does not appear to have much chance of carving out a nice role in that position once the regular season kicks off with the likes of Jordan Thomas, Jordan Akins, and Darren Fells all ahead of him on the depth chart.
The under is 4-1 in their last five preseason games.
Betting on Green Bay Packers (0-0)
The Packers have a new head coach in Mat MaFleur but still has the same old quarterback in future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. How the two will mesh with each other is an intriguing subject over the course of the offseason and could continue into the regular season, but for now, the focus is on the young guns and the depth guys against the Texans in Week 1 of the preseason. One of them is tight end Roberty Tonyan Jr., who has a shot at overtaking Jimmy Graham as the team’s top option in that position. LaFleur has been on the record saying praises of Tonyan, and we’ll have to see what he can do against the Texans. Another player to watch out for in Green Bay is rookie running back Dexter Williams, who could have a heavy workload right out of the preseason gate, with Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams nursing injuries. Rodgers won’t waste time playing among lower-tier caliber players, which should give way for some playing time to quarterback Manny Wilkins, who is an undrafted rookie out of the Arizona State Sun Devils program. In four years down in Tempe, Wilkins had 8,624 passing yards and 52 touchdowns with 23 interceptions thrown.
The Packers are 9-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last 10 home games.
