The Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys meet in the Battle of Texas on Monday Night Football.
The pregame narrative: Houston can send a message to its cross-state rival and I’m betting it does. I’m teasing the Texans up as favourites on this ticket. Additionally, I’m taking the under on a teased-up total and on Cooper Rush’s passing yards prop.
Check out my Texans vs. Cowboys same-game parlay predictions for Monday Night Football on Nov. 18.
Texans vs. Cowboys predictions
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Parlay: Texans -9.5 + Rush under 199.5 passing yards + Under 45.5 points (+300)
Texans -9.5 (+114): It’s not often that I’m confident enough to tease a favourite up against the spread.
But the cheese has gone bad in Dallas. Dak Prescott is out, CeeDee Lamb is banged up, Micah Parsons is calling out the coach, and Jerry Jones is beefing with almost everybody on his payroll.
The Cowboys have lost four consecutive games — including two by 25-plus points — and are playing for a coach that everybody expects to be gone at the end of the season.
This wager is by no means an endorsement of a Houston squad that has underperformed expectations. But I do like the Texans to win this game by double digits and prove that they’re the class of Texas.
Go to full Texans vs. Cowboys betting markets.
Other parlay picks
Rush under 199.5 passing yards (-205): Rush’s first start of the season didn’t offer much optimism.
The Dallas quarterback completed 13-of-23 attempts for a measly 45 yards in last week’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. That’s less than two yards per attempt.
It won’t get much easier for the passer, either. After battling a Philadelphia team that allows the fewest yards per pass attempt (5.5), he faces a Houston defence tied for second (5.7).
There’s always the possibility that Rush gets pulled from this game, too. Dallas did turn to Trey Lance late in last week’s game.
Under 45.5 points (-186): It’s hard to get a total up over this mark if one team is doing all the scoring.
I’m not expecting Dallas to contribute much to this total. The squad only scored six points against Philadelphia in Week 10.
The Cowboys’ offence is also staring down a very difficult matchup. Houston is surrendering the fourth-fewest yards per play (4.9).
The Texans’ offence hasn’t been as electric as it was a year ago. They’re an underwhelming 17th in points per game (22.4).
Part of the reason for their low totals is their pace of play. Houston is 23rd in plays per second (29.8) this season.
The Texans have the highest under percentage (80%) in the NFL.
Picks made at 1:35 p.m. ET 11/17/2024.
Stevie’s an avid NFL, NHL, and tennis bettor who has no problem talking himself into the underdog. His previous stops include Yahoo! Sports Canada and Toronto Metropolitan University, where he received a degree in Sport Media.