NFL odds: Tom Savage and the Texans open as Week 16 favorites against the Bengals
The Texans (8–6) are still in control of their own destiny with regards to their postseason fate with two weeks remaining in the NFL season. And Houston will be counting on quarterback Tom Savage to move them one step closer to the playoffs when they host the Bengals (5-8-1) as two-point home favorites on the NFL point spreads at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com for their Saturday primetime matchup.
The Cincinnati-Houston game is one of 12 on Christmas Eve, and nobody expected that Savage would be called upon to bring Texans fans the Christmas gift of another key victory. The quarterback engineered a 21–20 come-from-behind win in Week 15 at home after Brock Osweiler was benched for throwing two interceptions.
Houston improved to 6–1 at home and has won six of the past seven meetings with the Bengals–going 7–1 against the spread in the last eight–according to the OddsShark NFL Database. However, the Texans are just 2-19-1 ATS in their last 22 games at night.
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The Titans (8–6), who are tied with Houston for the AFC South lead, visit the Jaguars (2–12) as five-point road favorites on Saturday. Tennessee then hosts the Texans in Week 17, so they could still win the division even with a loss in Week 16. A Titans win against Houston in Week 17 would break the tie with a sweep of the season series.
The Eagles (5–9) and Giants (10-4) kick off Week 16 on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field, with the latter sitting as 2.5-point road favorites. New York may be favored, but they have lost four of the previous five meetings SU and ATS.
On Christmas Day, two important divisional matchups will play a big role in ultimately determining who ends up winning the AFC North and AFC West.
The Steelers (9–5) host the Ravens (8–6) as five-point home chalk early Sunday, and they will be trying to break a four-game series skid that has also seen them go 0-3-1 ATS in the past four meetings.
Then the Broncos (8–6) visit the Chiefs (10–4) as four-point road underdogs on Christmas Night. The defending Super Bowl champion Broncos have won five straight at Kansas City, although the Chiefs have won the previous two versus Denver overall, including a 30–27 overtime victory in Week 12.
Finally, the NFC East-leading Cowboys (12–2) will play their fourth straight primetime game when they host the NFC North-leading Lions (9–5) on Monday Night Football. The Cowboys are seven-point home favorites and have failed to cover their last four games (three under the lights) after starting the year on a 9-0-1 ATS run.
