The quest for a NFL world title in Super Bowl LI on Feb. 5 at NRG Stadium in Houston features a Wild Card Round matchup at that same venue this Saturday between the 12-4 Oakland Raiders and the 9-7 Houston Texans. While both of these teams are heavy longshots to make it that far in this season's playoffs, at least one of these teams is guaranteed to at the very least advance to next weekend's Divisional Round of games.
Both these teams come into this AFC clash with issues at the quarterback position. The Raiders lost their starter Derek Carr a few weeks ago with a broken leg and his backup Matt McGloin is questionable with a bad shoulder. This leaves rookie Connor Cook as the only viable starter for Saturday's matchup. Houston head coach Bill O'Brian turned to Tom Savage as his starter late in the season for an ineffective Brock Osweiller, but Savage is still recovering from a concussion so Osweiller has been thrust back into the starting role.
The Oddsmakers at BetAnySports give the edge to the Texans as 3.5-point home favorites and the betting line for the total has been set at 37. Oakland will have to rely heavily on a running game that ended the regular season ranked sixth in the NFL in yards per game (120.1) with Cook making his first NFL start. The Texans will try and take some pressure off of their quarterback behind a rushing attack that averaged 116.2 yards a game. Houston also boasts a defense that is ranked first in the league in total yards allowed (301.3).
As part of my season-long NFL coverage for SportsBettingStats.com, the link below takes you to my complete game preview for this opening wild card game this Saturday along with my free prediction when it comes to betting on this matchup.
LINK: OAKLAND RAIDERS AT HOUSTON TEXANS BETTING ODDS - POINT SPREAD PICK
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