Houston Texans Odds - Why Texans will finally have a winning season
Online sports betting handicappers have been eyeing the Texans odds for the last few seasons, but they haven’t been able to triumph. The franchise has grown from four wins in 2002 to eight wins in 2008, but the Texans odds have never given them a chance to be better than .500. Yet in 2009, the Texans could very well be a playoff team.
Houston Texans odds: +4500 to win Super Bowl XLIV
- Matt Schaub must stay healthy for the Texans to improve
- Texans have an explosive offense
- Front office used the draft, free agency to improve the defense
The Texans odds to win the Super Bowl are pretty long, but as we all know in the NFL, you don’t always have to learn to crawl before you learn to walk. Teams like the Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens went from nothing to something last year, and the Texans are much closer to something already than any of those teams were.
The Texans odds of winning are squarely on the shoulders of one player: quarterback Matt Schaub. Prorated over a full season, Schaub’s passing yards would have ranked him fourth in the NFL, but the issue for Schaub has been that he can’t last a full season. In his two seasons in Houston, he’s played just 22 of a possible 32 games. If Schaub is healthy this year, the Texans betting community knows that their offense could be the best in the NFL.
Wide receiver Andre Johnson is a Top-5 wideout but now he has company. Most Texans odds handicappers have noticed that Kevin Walter, Andre Davis, David Anderson and Jacoby Jones complete a very deep corps of receivers. Better yet, the Texans odds of winning on a weekly basis increase greatly now that they have a home run hitter in the backfield like Steve Slaton. Slaton led the league in rushes of 40 yards or longer as a rookie in 2008. The sportsbook odds makers have to account for all the weapons on this team and adjust the totals accordingly.
The Texans two main faults throughout the franchise’s history have been a lack of steady quarterbacking and a lack of a steady defense. If Schaub is healthy, that will take care of one problem, and after a solid offseason, the NFL betting community is cautiously optimistic that the defense will no longer be a problem anymore either. Last season, The Texans defense allowed 5.8 yards per play - fifth-worst in the NFL - and the biggest issue was getting pressure on the quarterback. As a team, the Texans finished with just 25 sacks and 12 of them came from Mario Williams. With the growth of Williams, Amobi Okoye and the addition of Antonio Smith, the Texans should be able to improve on their paltry total.
The Texans odds of improving on defense also increased when the team spent three of their first four draft picks on the defensive side. Linebacker Brian Cushing will team with DeMeco Ryans to make a formidable one-two punch in the heart of the defense, while second-round pick Connor Barwin will provide an upgrade at the defensive end position. In the secondary, a full season from playmaker Dunta Robinson should make a difference and, while he missed most of last year, players like Fred Bennett and Antuan Molden stepped up, which means the Texans will have more depth now. The Texans also added Eugene Wilson at safety.
Head coach Gary Kubiak has been busy filling in lots of gaps on the roster and it appears he’s fielded his best team to date, which is why the Texans odds are improving. Four of the Texans eight losses were by a touchdown or less, so a nine- or 10-win season is to be expected if Schaub is healthy and the defense has truly improved.
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Stan Simmons first tasted football through the college game, but his football handicapping has strictly focused on the professional sport. Not many people devote as much time to the NFL as Simmons. For six days a week he works, labors and handicaps the sport, and on the seventh he rests as the games play out. Thoughts or questions? Email Comments@BetOnline.com.
