NFL Odds Week 7: Picking Steelers-Texans on Monday Night Football

The Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers will both be trying to rebound from losses when they meet on Monday Night Football. These teams have met just four times previously, and the Steelers are consensus three-point home favorites this time around.

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Pittsburgh, who's looking for a win after a 31-10 road loss to the Cleveland Browns, has alternated wins and losses through the first six games of the NFL season, going 2-4 against the spread at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Steelers have played four of their past five games on the road, splitting two home games against Cleveland (a 30-27 win in Week 1) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (a 27-24 loss in Week 4) and failing to cover in both of them. In last week’s loss at Cleveland, Pittsburgh surrendered 155 rushing yards and three touchdowns to Browns running backs Ben Tate and Isaiah Crowell, so the team will obviously need to do a much better job against Texans RB Arian Foster.

Houston is coming off a 33-28 loss to the Indianapolis Colts last Thursday night, with the NFL betting lines showing the Texans as 2.5-point home underdogs. Foster rushed for 109 yards on 20 carries and got into the endzone twice for the second straight game. Unfortunately, Houston QB Ryan Fitzpatrick continued his anemic play, as he has just one touchdown pass or fewer in five of six games this year. Fitzpatrick will likely need to step up his game if the Texans waant to upset the Steelers and snap their 10-game losing streak as road underdogs. They are 4-6 ATS during that skid.

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For totals bettors, this Houston vs. Pittsburgh matchup looks like it will be a low-scoring game based on past trends. The UNDER is 3-1 in their last four meetings, plus 8-2 in the past 10 games against AFC North opponents for the Texans, and 13-4 in the previous 17 games for the Steelers as home favorites. The UNDER is also 6-2 in Houston’s last eight games as a road dog.