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Texans at Steelers Odds, Spread, Line & NFL Picks

Written by Jimmy Boyd

The Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers will both be kicking off their 2008 seasons as they square off in week 1 action on Sunday, September 7th at Heinz Field. The early line on this game at BetUS has the Steelers as 6.5 point favorites over the Texans with the total set at 43.

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Offensively this year for the Texans we think the majority of the responsibilities will fall on the shoulders of quarterback Matt Schaub. Last year Schaub had to miss five games due to injury, but he still completed over 66% of his passes for nine touchdowns. The problem was he also had nine interceptions to go with those numbers. However, against the Steelers we see Schaub throwing for 230 yards and a score to go along with a single interception. Ahman Greene was brought over to get the ground game going, but he only played in six games and gained only 270 yards. This year he’ll split time with rookie Steve Slaton, but neither will be much of a factor in this game as the team is held to under 100 yards rushing. Schaub’s main target throwing the ball will be Andre Johnson once again. Johnson should grab 7 balls for 78 yards. Last year Johnson was limited to nine games and 60 grabs, but he did have 851 yards receiving. Owen Daniels and Kevin Walter both figure to factor in the passing game as well.

The Texans defense has some big names and stars on it, starting with DeMarco Ryans who had 127 tackles last season. Another threat is Mario Williams, who racked up 14 sacks a year ago. We think that Houston will be able to get to Big Ben two or three times in this game as well, and they will most likely force a couple of turnovers to help out their team. The early betting line on the Texans is at +6.5 at BetUS.

Ben Roethlisberger is the leader of this Pittsburgh offense and we see him getting his season started off on the right foot here at home against the Texans. Last year Roethlisberger completed 65% of his passes for more than 3200 yards and 32 touchdowns. In this game you can expect 2 scores and 230+ passing yards from the Steeler signal caller. His main targets will be Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, and Heath Miller. Last year Holmes broke out as the leading receiver in terms of yards, racking up 942 while Ward led in receptions with 71. The touchdowns were fairly balanced among the three with Holmes racking up eight then Ward and Miller each catching seven. Don’t forget about Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall as well. I see Parker going over 100 total yards for this game, and even though Mendenhall probably won’t carry the ball more than 10 times, you’ll see him averging nearly 5 ypc.

Defensively this Steeler team is pretty solid up and down without a lot of big names. Against the Texans you’ll see how well they can stop a non-elite running back due to their 3-4 scheme. The secondary is good enough to keep Schaub from beating them by himself. If you like the Steelers -6.5 betting odds then head over to BetUS now to get your action in.

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