Christmas Day NFL Preview: Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans
The second of two Christmas Day NFL Football games will take place from NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, as the Houston Texans welcome the Baltimore Ravens at 4:30 PM on Netflix!
The fine folks over at BetAnySports have set the line in this game at Baltimore -4 and the total is sitting at 47 points for over/under wagers.
Baltimore Ravens Preview
The Baltimore Ravens are entering this game off a big win over their divisional rivals, Pittsburgh Steelers. The Ravens beat the Steelers 34-17 to tie them for the top spot in the division.
Derrick Henry ran for 162 yards on the ground and dictated the pace of the game. When you are running for 162 yards in a game, chances are you are coming out with a win and that is exactly what they did on Saturday.
Henry now has 1,636 rushing yards this season and with 2 games left in the season, he is chasing his all time high of 2,027 rushing yards, a number he set in 2020 when he was with the Tennessee Titans. He is 384 yards short right now and while he won’t reach that number in the regular season, the Ravens have already locked up a playoff spot so he certainly can hit it with the postseason included.
The Ravens will face the Texans this week and then close out the regular season at home on January 5 against the Cleveland Browns.
Houston Texans Preview
The Houston Texans are coming off a tough road loss on last Saturday where the Kansas City Defense ruled the roost! The Texans were held to just 244 yards passing and 84 total yards rushing in a 27-19 loss to KC.
Texans defense struggled significantly with stopping the rushing attack of Kansas City. They allowed a total of 124 rushing yards split between 4 players and allowed Patrick Mahomes, with his injured leg to pass for 260 yards.
The Texans had a major loss on Saturday, as Tank Dell, went down with a really bad knee injury, which had him spending the night at University of Kansas Medical Center.
This Texans have already clinched the AFC South and are now just looking to improve their seeding and potentially gain a home game in the playoffs.
Handicapping Breakdown
This Christmas Day NFL game scares us from a betting standpoint for the sides. Both teams have a reason to play hard and both have to come in somewhat tired after this grueling schedule. We think the best option here is the total and playing the under. We expect to see a lot of running in this game. Both teams will want to control the clock and shorten this game, knowing they are both heading to the postseason. Therefore, we are taking UNDER 47 here.
Pick: Under 47
