Pinnacle -4 -108 B365 -4 -110 SportsInteraction -4 -110 5DIMES -4 -110 888Sport -4 -110

HOUSTON -4 -108 over Atlanta

1:00 PM EST. The best thing about this game is that the Texans looked awful last week in a low scoring loss at home to the Panthers. It almost makes people forget about Atlanta’s loss to Tennessee but at the end of the day, Atlanta, for whatever reason, still has market appeal and we’ll continue to try and take advantage of that.

Atlanta’s new offense under OC Dirk Koetter becomes more like the Buccaneers each week. The passing effort has been productive in yardage though it revolves around very few players. The rushing effort is all but non-existent with no signs of improvement. Atlanta has one win this year, an unimpressive prime time victory over the depleted Eagles. Philadelphia was so banged up that week that they skipped practice the following Wednesday because they didn’t have enough healthy bodies available. Incidentally, the Dirty Birds had to hang on for dear life to edge the Eagles, 24-20. Atlanta has been blown out twice in four games, once by the Vikes and last week against the Titans. One could surmise that their stock is low and now would be the time to buy, but Houston’s stock is low too, which provides us with this opportunity to fade the Dirty Birds once again.

The Texans have suffered through a challenging schedule facing the defenses of the Saints, Jaguars, Chargers and Panthers. That should start to turn around now that their next opponents are Atlanta, @KC, @Indy and Oakland. Deshaun Watson turned in great performances in two of Houston’ four games. One was against New Orleans and the other was against the Chargers. That said, let’s get to the real meat behind this choice and make it a very good situational bet that few are aware of.

Deshaun Watson grew up in Atlanta and was always hanging around the Falcons facility. The summer before Watson’s freshman year at Gainesville High School in Georgia, he spent his August with the Falcons at their practice facility in Flowery Branch -- just 10 minutes from his home. He picked up balls during practice, took care of the equipment and folded towels, among other things. Watson got the job through the Boys & Girls Club in Gainesville and was one of the few high school students chosen to take part in the program that was started by Falcons owner Arthur Blank. Along with helping during training camp, the ball boys were allowed to be on the sideline and in the locker room on game days. “We got the whole NFL experience,” Watson said. Watson did such a good job, he was asked back by the Falcons each year that he was in high school. Suddenly, the 14-year-old who was nervous about throwing to NFL receivers was putting together an excellent high school career, and by the time he was a sophomore, he had committed to Clemson. Spending all that time around the team and players, Watson said, “taught me how to really work.”

We could go on about Watson and his ties to Atlanta but the point is that this is a highly emotional game for him. He still has strong ties to many people in the Falcons organization and wants to thrive against them here to showcase what he’s become. Watson is a quiet, humble player and perhaps that’s why the Texans don’t get the press they deserve or why Watson isn’t really considered among the elite. In any case, when a talented QB and team is jacked up to play the Falcons and that talented team has a stock that’s dropping, you can pencil us in and we make no exception here. Deshaun Watson wants this one badly and he’ll be facing a reeling defense that made Marcus Mariota look like a star, while failing to sack him. Watson figures to see little pressure from a hapless front seven. HOOAH!

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