Who: Philadelphia Eagles at Houston Texans

When: Thursday, November 3rd, 2022, 8:15pm ET

Where: NRG Stadium – Houston, TX

Spread: Eagles -14

Total: 45 o/u

If you are looking for an exciting Thursday night matchup between two elite teams in the NFL, you at least will be gifted half of that this week. The undefeated Eagles will travel to Houston to take on a Texans team that has struggled to put points on the board all season.

For the Eagles, a week after their bye, Philadelphia had no trouble disposing of the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 35-13 route on Sunday. The Texans, meanwhile, had difficulty finding the endzone against a Titans squad that was forced to start their inexperienced rookie QB, dropping their record to 1-5-1.

The Eagles are one of the top-scoring teams in the league, while the Texans are dead last. It’s been a rough year for Houston, who entered the season with hopes of progress from second-year QB Davis Mills. Instead, Mills had mightily regressed, and Houston will, in all likelihood, be looking to draft a Bryce Young or a C.J. Stroud in April’s draft. However, if there is one bright spot for Houston, it is rookie RB Dameon Pierce, who has emerged as one of the top backs this season. Still, Pierce’s abilities may be too little against an Eagles’ defense that has excelled and shut down nearly every high-powered offense it has faced.

Behind the Eagles’ potent offense, which includes QB Jalen Hurts, WRs AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith, and RB Miles Sanders, it will be hard to go against them in this matchup. Yes, 14 points is a ton of points to lay, especially on a short week, but the Eagles remain one of the top three teams in the league while the Texans are at the bottom. There’s a good chance this contest will be over before halftime, especially since the Eagles score most of their points in the first half this season.

In terms of the total, as always, I side with the Under on short weeks. I particularly favor the Under this week, as I cannot see the Texans scoring in the double-digits.

While I am siding with the Eagles -14, I will do so only for office pool purposes. There is always the chance for a backdoor cover and the Eagles benching their starters if they are up by multiple scores. In that case, my top play will be the Under.

Pick: Eagles -14

Under 45