Player Prop In Texans Vs Chiefs

Texans vs. Chiefs, 1:00 ET

Injuries just ruin sports. I suppose it is part of what keeps the excitement alive. There are the freaks out there who watch injury videos over and over, but I'm referring more to making matchups more interesting. If a quarterback gets hurt, the team has to adjust their game plan completely, but so does the other team. It also means that some of the advantages disappear. In this game between the Texans and Chiefs, there is one huge name with an injury that will dictate a lot of what happens in this one.

The Texans don't need to win this game. I'm not saying that they will throw it or be willing to lose, but the game doesn't have that much weight for them. They have secured the division and are going to the playoffs. Over their past five games, they are 3-2 with wins over Dallas, Jacksonville, and Miami last week. Their losses were to the Lions, which was understandable, and a home loss to the Titans which was shocking. The Texans offense has taken quite a few hits this year with Nico Collins being out for a portion of the season, and losing Stefon Diggs for the year. The Texans offense overall average about 324 yards per game and that puts them in the bottom half of the league. One bright spot has been Joe Mixon an his ground game. He started with five 100 yard games out of his first six. Over his last four games he has been either great, or a bust. Against the Cowboys and Jaguars he ran for over 100 yards. Against the Titans and Dolphins, he only ran for 22 and 23 yards. He has been a bit more involved in the passing game lately, but it would be a good idea for them to keep feeding him the ball. The Chiefs do have one of the best rushing defenses in football. He has faced Kansas City three times in his career and his high in rush yards was 65 yards. He has never scored a rushing touchdown against them.

The Chiefs have a rather big question to answer in this game with if Patrick Mahomes will play or not. Last week, Mahomes was tackled and he got a high ankle sprain. Mahomes hasn't been the superhuman quarterback that we've become accustomed to over the years. He does have 3,348 yards for the year, but he has just 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The running game for the Chiefs has improved since they added Kareem Hunt, and Isiah Pacheco is back in the mix which provides an added boost. The team will need to rely on the ground game regardless of who is under center. My guess is that Mahomes will give it a go - there was a line movement because Mahomes mentioned he would try to play. Even if he can't the team will have Carson Wentz under center. As far as backups go, there certainly could be worse. I'm not advocating for Wentz, but at least he has extensive experience leading a playoff team. 

I am not really sure how you bet on or against the Chiefs here. They almost exclusively play 1-score games, and this one should be tight without Mahomes, or with a banged-up Mahomes. I expect the Texans will still feed the ball to Mixon, but the Chiefs defense will be ready for that, I'm going to take Mixon under 59.5 rushing yards in this ones. Going against one of the toughest defense, and having only gone over this once in three games, I will back him here. I'd probably feel even more confident if Mahomes is in because then the Texans would be more likely to play from behind. 

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