JD Terhart in The Baltimore Ravens will host the struggling Houston Texans on Monday Night Football here in Week 12 of the 2017-18 NFL Season. Kickoff is at 8:30 PM EST on Monday, November 27th from M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. Fans can watch the game on ESPN.
Oddsmakers list the Ravens as 7-point favorites at home. Early betting has yet to move the line in either direction, as Baltimore originally opened at -7. The over/under for the game is set at 38 points. Click here for a full list of the Week 12 betting odds and links to more game previews.
Texans vs Ravens Game Betting Preview & Vegas Odds
The Texans will look to avoid losing their fourth straight road game on Monday after finally picking up a much-needed home victory last weekend against Arizona. Houston managed to beat the Cardinals 31-21 after a 230 yard, two touchdown performance by QB Tom Savage. However, Arizona was forced to start third-string quarterback Blaine Gabbert after losing both Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton to injury. The Texans certainly haven’t been the same since breakout star Deshaun Watson tore his ACL during practice back in Week 9. Defensively, Houston is allowing a fairly high 26.2 points per game to opponents on an average of 344.8 total yards.
Baltimore is coming off of their bye week and hopes to finally get back above .500 on the season (5-5) with a solid showing at home on Monday night. The Ravens have also been bitten by the injury bug this year, as they currently have the most players on the IR in the entire NFL. Baltimore looks to be in good shape heading into this match-up with Houston, as they are 8-2 under John Harbaugh when coming off a bye. The Ravens shutout the Green Bay Packers their last time out, tormenting backup QB Brett Hundley all game long. Baltimore forced five turnovers including three interceptions and a fumble from Hundley. The Ravens defense is currently allowing an average of just 17.1 points per game on 306 total yards. On the other side of the ball, Baltimore has struggled through the air while finding success on the ground. RB Alex Collins has been very impressive, amassing 570 yards on just 113 carries. He is a large reason why Baltimore is averaging 114.6 rushing yards per game (13th overall).
Free NFL Pick Against the Spread: Ravens -7
I think Baltimore offers decent value in this particular spot. The Ravens defense showed just how much damage they can do against an inexperienced quarterback during an impressive road victory at Lambeau Field in Week 10. I’m expecting a similar performance at home on Monday night against Tom Savage. Savage has clearly been sub-par since taking over for Deshaun Watson and I don’t think he has any real shot at a rebound performance this week. The Texans should struggle to move the ball all game while Flacco and Co. find a way to grind out a few touchdowns en route to a 7+ point victory.
Click on the link for more free NFL betting predictions from our experts on staff.
The Texans are a brutal 1-9 ATS in their past ten appearances on Monday Night Football. They are also just 1-4 ATS over their past 5 games in November. Baltimore is an impressive 5-1 ATS over their last six Monday games and 9-4-1 ATS in their last 14 games against an AFC opponent. Again, the biggest factor for me here is the Texans offense with Tom Savage at quarterback. Although the Ravens may not force five turnovers like they did in their last game, I would very surprised if they didn’t find a way to come up with at least 2-3.
Baltimore also looks like they will be getting a few starters back from injury this week, while Houston has already announced that WR Will Fuller will be out on Monday. To make matters even worse, WR DeAndre Hopkins has also popped up on the injury report over the past few days (questionable with a foot injury). A Tom Savage-led offense potentially missing its two top receivers sounds like a recipe for disaster for me. I’m taking the Ravens to win this one while also managing to cover the spread with relative ease.