NFL 2024/25: Texans – Bills
Now the Buffalo Bills have also suffered their first defeat of the season. The team was crushed in Baltimore by the Ravens’ strong running offense. After two clear victories against the Dolphins and Jaguars, this is the first setback.
The Texans were able to celebrate against the Jaguars last week, but only just managed to win. The bookmakers expect a close match on Sunday.
I expect the offensive lines to provide the highlights in particular and put over 1.5 touchdowns in the bet slip using the Bet365 bet configurator.
The Bills are only slightly ahead at odds of 1.80 in the away game in Texas. Houston is at 2.00, the handicap is only +1. It should be a close game in the fifth game week of the NFL.
But the betting providers have already expected that in the Buffalo games against the Dolphins and Ravens. Twice the games turned into one-sided matches, although the Bills nipped a comeback in the bud last week with individual mistakes.
In the end, it was 35-10 for Baltimore, with the Ravens racking up 278 yards on the ground alone. Buffalo already had problems slowing down Kyler Murray and Co. against the Cardinals. That could also be uncomfortable in Texas.
Baltimore covered 427 yards in total, while the otherwise strong offense around Josh Allen only managed 236 yards, 155 passing yards, a poor performance for the star quarterback.
The Texans even managed 435 yards against the Jaguars, who have gotten off to a bad start with four losses in four games. I expect the Bills to put up a much better fight. Ultimately, I don’t like either defense.
I think it’s too risky to pick a winner. Instead, I’m keeping an eye on the over-touchdown odds. For over 3.5, however, only 1.13 is available at Bet365, while over 4.5 is still at 1.37, but still too low.
The oddsmakers also unsurprisingly have a high-scoring game on their screens. The overall odds look significantly better if we expect two touchdowns per half, then the odds are 1.63.
I only see the bet as being in serious jeopardy if the match goes in a one-sided direction again and is practically decided at halftime. However, the current performances of the teams are too similar for that. I expect a two-score lead by halftime at most.
With the weak numbers from the Baltimore game and the problems against the Cardinals, the Bills have now slipped to the bottom of the rushing defense table. Only the Colts and Rams conceded more yards.
Joe Mixon, the Texans’ number one running back, is still questionable for Sunday after his injury. If he starts, I would definitely consider the touchdown odds of 1.87. Last week, Buffalo conceded two rushing touchdowns.
Stefon Diggs, the former wide receiver of the Bills, is also keen on the special moment in the end zone. He spent four years with the team from the state of New York and has only been playing for Houston since this year.
The 2.25 odds are not bad either. After all, the 30-year-old has already scored three touchdowns in the young regular season, in which both teams currently have a record of 3-1.
The last time the franchises faced each other was in 2021. The Texans don’t have good memories of the game, which ended 0-40. Allen was also quarterback for the Bills back then.
Conclusion and Prediction: A 40-0 victory for Buffalo like three years ago is definitely out of the question. It should be a very close game in which both defenses are unlikely to have a good day.
Fantasy Football users who have Allen and CJ Strout on their team should have a good day. The Texans have covered the third most yards through the passing game so far and can also cause a stir through the running game, especially with a possible comeback from Mixon.
I don’t need to go into detail about the Bills’ versatile offense with Allen, who racks up plenty of yards himself and has all the passing variations down pat. Given their current form, I’ll go for the following quote.
My Texans Bills tip: Over 1.5 touchdowns in each half!