Houston Texans vs

Detroit Lions Prediction

Houston Texans vs Detroit Lions Prediction

The NFL’s Thanksgiving Day schedule begins with an inter-conference battle between the Detroit Lions and Houston Texans. Kickoff is at 12:30 EST on Thursday, November 26, at Ford Field in Detroit. The early betting line has the Texans favored by 2.5 points on the road with the over/under set at 51.5 points. Keep reading to get a preview of both teams and learn about our official Lions vs Texans prediction.

Detroit Lions Preview

The Lions may have reached the low point in their season last week, losing to the Panthers 20-0. Oddly enough, it came one week after Detroit secured a much-needed win over Washington. As it stands, the Lions have lost three of their last four games and are 4-6 with six games left in the season. They are two games out of a playoff spot, so it’s now or never for Matt Patricia, who is likely coaching for his job between now and the end of the season.

In fairness, the Lions can use injuries as an excuse for their poor offensive performance against Carolina. Kenny Golladay, Danny Amendola, and D’Andre Swift all missed the game due to injury. However, missing those players isn’t a good enough excuse for amassing just 185 total yards against the Panthers. It surely doesn’t explain why the Lions only accrued 40 rushing yards and allowed Matthew Stafford to be sacked five times. It’s unlikely that Golladay, Amendola, and Swift will play on Thursday because of a short week, meaning it’ll be up to Detroit’s offensive line to perform better and give Stafford a fighting chance to do something productive.

On the other hand, the Detroit defense was surprisingly adequate against Carolina. Of course, they were facing the Panthers without Teddy Bridgewater and Christian McCaffrey, so giving up 20 points and 374 yards against a watered-down Carolina offense isn’t all that impressive. More importantly, the Lions remain among the bottom-5 in the NFL in points allowed and have conceded 30.5 points over their last four games.

Houston Texans Preview

The Texans haven’t had much to celebrate in 2020, but they’ll feel good about going to Detroit on a short week after knocking off the Patriots last week. Houston was out-gained by New England, but the Texans found a way to outlast Bill Belichick’s team. It was Houston’s second win in three games and the team’s first win of the season against a team other than the Jaguars. Of course, the Texans are just 3-7 on the season and all but out of the playoff race.

The Houston offense continues to be the silver lining in a bad season. Deshaun Watson is playing like a Pro Bowler, which you can’t often say for the quarterback of a 3-7 team. He’s thrown for at least 300 yards in five of his last seven games. Perhaps more importantly, Watson has thrown 11 touchdowns and no interceptions over his last five games. The caveat is that Houston’s rushing attack is going nowhere, especially with David Johnson on IR. Watson was Houston’s leading rusher in the win against the Patriots, which isn’t a promising sign.

Defensively, the Texans have struggled all season, although things have improved over the past couple of weeks. Two weeks ago, they only gave up 10 points against the Browns. However, they did so while allowing both Cleveland running backs to gain over 100 yards on the ground. Against the Patriots last week, the Texans did a much better job against the run and were able to put consistent pressure on Cam Newton. It’s not much, but it’s something the Houston defense can build upon moving forward.

Full Game Prediction

Both the Lions and Texans will be in a position to create some offensive fireworks on Thanksgiving. Even after the Lions were shut out last week, Stafford is capable of doing damage against the Texans if Detroit’s offensive line can do a better job. The chances are good that Watson will lead the Houston offense into the end zone at least a couple of times, so the pressure will be on Stafford and the Detroit offense to keep up.

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