NFL

Monday, November 27

Monday Night Football Betting Preview and Odds: Texans at Ravens

Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens (-7.5, 38)

Entering the weekend in possession of the final playoff slot in the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens will face one of the teams trying to overtake them when they host the Houston Texans on Monday night. Baltimore moved back to the .500 mark last week with a 23-0 win at Green Bay, becoming the first team since 2003 to register three shutouts in a season.

"Defense, obviously, was off the charts," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said after his team forced five turnovers and registered six sacks. "That's about as good as you can play on defense." Baltimore has won nine straight prime-time games -- the longest active streak in the NFL -- and is 11-1 under the lights since Harbaugh took over the coaching reins. Much-maligned Texans quarterback Tom Savage, benched after Week 1 before replacing an injured Deshaun Watson prior to Week 9, earned his first victory of the season in last week's 31-21 win over Arizona. “It’s all about mental toughness out there,” Savage said. "As a quarterback, your team needs you out there to be the leader, so I am going to just go out there and keep slinging it and play confident."

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN.

POWER RANKINGS: Texans (5) - Ravens (1) + home field (-3) = Ravens -7.

LINE HISTORY: The Ravens opened as low as 6.5-point home chalk and by the end of the week the line was up to -7.5. The total hit the betting board at 38 at most shops and has yet to move off the opening number.

WEATHER REPORT:

42 degrees at kickoff - wind and chance of precipitation are negligible.


INJURY REPORT:

Texans - WR DeAndre Hopkins (Probable, Foot), RB Alfred Blue (Probable, Hamstring), DE Jadeveon Clowney (Questionable, Ankle), LB Dylan Cole (Questionable, Hamstring), OT Julien Davenport (Questionable, Shoulder), G Greg Mancz (Questionable, Knee), WR Chris Thompson (Questionable, Knee), CB Kevin Johnson (Questionable, Concussion), WR Will Fuller V (Out, Ribs), RB D'Onta Foreman (I-R, Achilles).

Ravens - LB C.J. Mosley (Probable, Ankle), RB Terrance West (Probable, Calf), LB Terrell Suggs (Questionable, Ankle), G Jermaine Eluemunor (Questionable, Shoulder), OT Austin Howard (Questionable, Knee), CB Jimmy Smith (Questionable, Achilles), OT Ronnie Stanley (Questionable, Concussion).

ABOUT THE TEXANS (4-6 SU, 6-4 ATS, 6-4 O/U): Savage is coming off his best outing of the season, throwing for 230 yards and a pair of scores against Arizona, but he also has committed six turnovers in the past two games. Rookie D'Onta Foreman rushed for a season-high 65 yards and two TDs before suffering a season-ending torn left Achilles last week, but Lamar Miller is a dual threat who has scored three times over the past four games and leads the team with 604 yards on the ground. DeAndre Hopkins is having a strong bounce-back campaign with 62 receptions and an NFL-best nine touchdowns through 10 games. Houston is vulnerable through the air, ranking 26th at 252.8 yards per game allowed.

ABOUT THE RAVENS (5-5 SU, 5-4-1 ATS, 6-4 O/U): Baltimore managed only 219 yards of total offense in blanking Green Bay and features the league's worst passing attack with an average of 165.2 yards per game. Quarterback Joe Flacco has thrown more interceptions (11) than touchdown passes (nine), and the lack of explosiveness is reflected in the fact that running back Javorius Allen and veteran tight end Ben Watson are 1-2 on the team in receptions. Running back Alex Collins went over 100 yards in a 40-0 rout of Miami on Oct. 26 but has been limited to 49 yards or fewer in three of the past four games. The Ravens are yielding 17.1 points per game and have posted a league-high 16 interceptions.

TRENDS:

* Texans are 1-9 ATS in their last 10 Monday games.

* Ravens are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Monday games.

* Over is 9-1 in Texans last 10 games following a ATS win.

* Over is 5-1 in Ravens last 6 games overall.

* Home team is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings.

CONSENSUS: The public is siding with the home chalk Ravens at a rate of 54 percent and the Over is getting 55 percent of the totals action.