New England Patriots vs Houston Texans NFL Picks, NFL Predictions & NFL Odds: The Houston Texans will host the New England Patriots this afternoon in what has become a must win game for the home team. Kickoff in this AFC East versus AFC South clash is set for 1:00pm ET at Reliant Stadium; the game will be broadcast live on CBS. NFL Picks at online bookmaker SPORTSBETTING.com have the Texans listed as a -9 against the spread favorite.
New England won its third straight game and improved to 10-5 last week after beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 35-7 at 
Gillette Stadium. The easy victory, combined with a Miami loss, gave the Patriots the AFC East crown and the third seed in the AFC Playoffs. New England could drop down to the fourth seed with a loss and a Bengals win, but there is no way for the team to earn a bye week at this juncture.
Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick has said his first stringers, including quarterback Tom Brady, will start this afternoon. However, they probably will not see a tremendous amount of playing time.
Houston kept its postseason hopes on life support for at least one more week with a stellar 27-20 road win at Miami. The victory, the Texans third in a row, brought the team's record to 8-7 and made it the eighth seed in the AFC Playoff race. Houston can gain its first ever postseason berth with a win over New England this afternoon and one of the following combination of challenger losses: New York and Denver lose or New York and Baltimore lose or Baltimore and Denver lose.
Houston, surprisingly, is just 3-4 at Reliant Stadium this season, despite averaging 2.5 points more per game than its visiting competition. The Patriots have been horrible on the road this season, though, going 2-5 away from Foxborough.
NFL Picks Betting Trend: New England is 6-2 against the spread and 7-1 straight up over the last five seasons as an away team coming off a game with an AFC South opponent.
SPORTSBETTING.com New England Patriots vs Houston Texans NFL Picks, Predictions & Odds:
New England Patriots +9 (-125), Over 46 (-110), +280 (Moneyline)
Houston Texans -9 (+105), Under 46 (-110), -360 (Moneyline)
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