Rams vs. Texans Point Spread: NFL Pre-Season Week 4 Odds, Prediction
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Jeremy Perry
The defending NFC champion Los Angeles Rams have felt confident and comfortable resting
their starters for the entire preseason. They did it last year and they’re doing it again.
The same can’t be said about the Houston Texans, who are coming off an absolutely devastating
34-0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Not only did they lose the game, they also lost running back
Lamar Miller to a torn ACL. They’ll hope to rebound against a team that really won’t be trying in
this spot.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Sean McVay has shown zero interest in chasing wins throughout this preseason. McVay, who
insisted on sitting his starters for the entire exhibition slate, watched his team pick up their first
preseason victory in an ugly 10-6 victory over the Denver Broncos last week. Still, Los Angeles is
just 3-4 in exhibition games over the last two seasons combined with a good chance they suffer
another defeat on the road this week.
Meanwhile, Houston has dropped two of its first three preseason games including last week’s
blowout loss to Dallas. However, the Texans have finished with a losing record in the preseason
only once in five years under Bill O’Brien, who is 13-8 all-time in exhibition games. There is a
good chance that O’Brien will want to see his team bounce back from last week’s ugly loss with
a strong performance in their final tune-up for the regular season this week.
Los Angeles Rams
Undrafted quarterback John Wolford threw the lone touchdown in last week’s 10-6 win over
Denver. The Rams backups on defense did an excellent job keeping the Broncos’ backups to six
points on offense. Meanwhile, Wolford and Brandon Allen did just enough to squeeze out a
victory. Those two should see all of the snaps once again versus the Texans. Second-year
running back John Kelly and rookie third-round pick Darrell Henderson should continue to see
the bulk of the snaps on the ground. That tandem combined for 60 yards on 21 carries in the
win over Denver.
Los Angeles did lose linebacker Josh Carraway and center Aaron Neary to season-ending injuries
against the Broncos. With so much concern over the potential for additional injuries, there is a
good chance McVay does everything he can to keep key contributors on the sideline this week.
Houston Texans
Things didn’t get any better for the Texans following Miller’s injury. Quarterback Deshaun
Watson was sacked twice, lost a fumble and then took a seat with more question marks about his performance than answers.
Is Houston’s offensive line good enough to hold up and protect
Watson this season? Or is it only a matter of time before he is sidelined with a major injury?
Watson won’t see the field this week, but Joe Webb III and undrafted rookie Jordan Ta’amu will
be trying to prove they deserve the backup job behind Watson. That tandem struggled mightily
in last week’s loss to Denver, combining to go 10-of-26 for 88 yards and two interceptions while
taking seven sacks.
The Texans don’t have much to play for, but they do have a little more going
for them than the Rams with a focus on generating some positive momentum heading in to the
regular season.
LAR
HOU