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Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans Preview and Predictions 2019-01-05

NFL Predictions 2nd January 2019 by Gracenote
Colts vs. Texans Preview and Predictions

by Gracenote on 01/02/2019

The Houston Texans may have saved their season with an overtime win at Indianapolis in Week 4, but the Colts may have done the same by beating their AFC South rivals 10 weeks later to keep their playoff chances alive. The stakes will be considerably higher Saturday when the teams square off for the third time this season in the AFC wild card round in Houston.

"You know them well, and they know you well. You gotta fight to find ways to make slight changes, but don't go crazy," Indianapolis coach Frank Reich said. "You gotta avoid the mistake of, 'We gotta be drastically different just because they know us.'" The Texans prevented an 0-4 start to the season by outlasting the Colts 37-34 on Sept. 30 (as the Texans were -1 point favorite at intertops), a victory that spurred a nine-game winning streak and a worst-to-first finish in the division. Indianapolis avenged that defeat and ended Houston's nine-game run with a 24-21 road victory on Dec. 9 to ignite a season-closing four-game winning streak that locked up the No. 6 seed and a third meeting with the Texans. "Only 12 teams make it and you're bound to play somebody that you've already played. It's just the way it is," Houston coach Bill O'Brien said. "It is what it is. We know there are certain things that they're going to do."

TV: 4:35 p.m. ET, ABC, ESPN. LINE: Texans -1.5 O/U: 48.5

ABOUT THE COLTS (10-6): Andrew Luck missed the entire 2017 season due to recurring soreness following shoulder surgery, but finished with 4,593 yards and 39 touchdown passes while guiding Indianapolis to nine wins over its final 10 games. His favorite target is wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, who has been battling an ankle injury but still has his fifth 1,000-yard season (1,270) and burned the Texans for nine catches and 199 yards in Week 14. Tight end Eric Ebron had a career-best 13 touchdown catches, including one in each matchup versus Houston, while Marlon Mack rushed for nine touchdowns and had four 100-yard outings in his last 10 games. Rookie Darius Leonard, the league leader with 163 tackles, heads a defense that did not allow 30 points over the final 10 games after surrendering at least 34 points in four of the first six contests.



ABOUT THE TEXANS (11-5): Second-year quarterback Deshaun Watson, who had his rookie season derailed by a torn ACL in his knee and dealt with a partially collapsed lung earlier this year, threw for eight touchdowns and zero interceptions and rushed for four more scores over the final six games. DeAndre Hopkins had another monster season with 115 catches for 1,572 yards and 11 scores, finishing the season with 31 receptions and three straight 100-yard games after he was held to four catches and 36 yards by Indianapolis. A late-season ankle injury cost running back Lamar Miller a shot at 1,000 yards but he managed only 82 yards and a TD on 28 carries in both games against the Colts. J.J. Watt returned from two injury-plagued seasons to rack up 16 sacks for a defense that ranked third against the run (82.7 yards) but was vulnerable to the pass (260.4).

EXTRA POINTS

1. Luck has passed for 2,776 yards and 23 touchdowns in 10 career games versus Houston.

2. Watson is the first QB in league history to throw for at least 4,000 yards and 25 TDs and rush for at least 500 yards and five TDs.

3. Hilton has 41 catches for 933 yards and seven touchdowns in seven games at NRG Stadium.

PREDICTION: Colts 26, Texans 23
 

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Seattle Seahawks vs. Dallas Cowboys Preview and Predictions 2019-01-05

NFL Predictions 2nd January 2019 by Gracenote
by Gracenote on 01/02/2019

Ezekiel Elliott was a busy man this season, as the Pro Bowl running back recorded a league-high 1,434 rushing yards and team-best 77 receptions to help the Dallas Cowboys punch their ticket to the playoffs for the third time in five years. After sitting out the regular-season finale, a well-rested Elliott is expected to carry the mail on Saturday as the fourth-seeded Cowboys host the fifth-seeded Seattle Seahawks in an NFC wild-card game.

"Just knowing that we're going into these playoffs, I'm going to have the highest workload I probably had all season," said Elliott, who rushed for 127 yards in Dallas' 24-13 loss to Seattle on Sept. 23 (as the Cowboys were +2 point underdog at intertops). Dak Prescott (career-high 3,885 yards), who was intercepted twice and threw for just 168 yards in that contest, tossed a 32-yard scoring strike to Cole Beasley to cap a season-high four-touchdown performance in the waning moments of Sunday's 36-35 win over the New York Giants. While the Cowboys boast a 7-1 mark at AT&T Stadium and won seven of their last eight games overall, the Seahawks emerged victorious in six of their last seven contests to reach 10 wins and a playoff berth for the sixth time in Russell Wilson's seven seasons with the club. Wilson, who threw two of his NFL third-best 35 touchdown passes in Seattle's win over Dallas in Week 3, is just 3-3 with 11 TDs and 10 interceptions in his last six postseason starts (3-3).

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Cowboys -1.5 O/U: 43

ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS (10-6): Chris Carson (team-best 1,151 rushing yards) had a season-high 32 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown against Dallas, a performance that set the tone for what would become Seattle's top-ranked rushing offense (160.0 yards per game). "(The coaches) were talking about it the whole time of running the ball more and being a run team," the 24-year-old Carson said. "They finally started getting it going against the Cowboys and it's taken off ever since." Carson rushed for a career-best 122 yards and a score in Sunday's 27-24 triumph over Arizona, although he'll face a Dallas rush defense that has surrendered a league fifth-best 94.6 yards per contest. Tyler Lockett, who found the end zone in the encounter with the Cowboys, set career highs in receptions (57), receiving yards (965) and touchdown receptions (10) this season.



ABOUT THE COWBOYS (10-6): Amari Cooper has endeared himself to his new team by collecting 35 receptions for 551 yards and six touchdowns in five home games with Dallas since being acquired from Oakland. The 24-year-old Cooper led the Cowboys with 725 receiving yards despite appearing in just nine games, with Beasley (672) sitting close behind after his 94-yard effort versus the Giants nearly eclipsed the sum total (124) of his previous five contests. Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence capped his second straight Pro Bowl season by recording one of his team-best 10.5 sacks in each of the last two games. Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch registered 10 of his rookie franchise-record 140 tackles in the previous encounter with the Seahawks.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Seattle Pro Bowl LB Bobby Wagner had eight of his club-high 138 tackles against Dallas in Week 3.

2. Pro Bowl CB Byron Jones had two of his team-best 14 pass deflections for the Cowboys in the previous meeting with the Seahawks.

3. Seattle recorded a league-best plus-15 turnover differential this season.

PREDICTION: Cowboys 21, Seahawks 20
 

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Razor Sharp

YOUR RAZOR SHARP FREE PICK FOR SATURDAY: HOUSTON/PORTLAND OVER the total of 216½
 

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Totals4U

Saturday's Free Selection: South Carolina Gamecocks/Florida Gators under 132
 

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Jeff Allen

Saturday's Free Selection is on the Utah State Aggies
 

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Roz Wins

Roz's Saturday, January 5, 2019, Free Pick

(683) CALIFORNIA VS (684) UCLA

Take : UCLA
 

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Atlantic Sports

Saturday's Free Selection from Atlantic Sports: TCU - 8 1/2
 

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Platinum Plays

Free Pick: the West Virginia Mountaineers +6½ over Texas
 

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Nevada Sharpshooter

Your free winner for Saturday: Take GOLDEN ST/SACRAMENTO UNDER the total of 238½
 

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Vegas Steam Line

Your free winner for Saturday: SOUTH FLORIDA +7 over Tulsa
 

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High Stakes Syndicate

Free Selection for Early Saturday: North Texas Mean Green - 7 1/2
 

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John Anthony Sports

Saturday's Free Selection: Colorado Buffaloes + 6 1/2
 

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BIG AL

Our complimentary selection for Saturday, January 5 is:

New Mexico +14.5 over Nevada.
 

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