With the New Orleans Saints having their nine-game winning streak snapped by Dallas, they passed the hottest team mantle to the Houston Texans. The Texans won their ninth consecutive game on Sunday, defeating Cleveland, 29-13.
The win set a franchise record for most consecutive, and the team is 6-3 against the spread during that span. Remarkable when you realize Houston lost its first three, and there were calls for coach Bill O’Brien to be fired.
That seems like ancient history now, though the Texans still haven’t convinced oddsmakers they are for real. They are a 33/1 pick to win the Super Bowl, and a 14/1 selection to win the AFC Championship.
Texans quarterback DeShaun Watson said the team is peaking at the right time.
“This is an improving league and the best team that improves at the end of the year is usually the team that has the momentum and has the advantage sometimes,†Watson said.  “So that’s what our goal is to continue to improve. We still haven’t played our complete all three phases of a complete game. Offensive side, we want to continue to turn some of those field goals into points, touchdowns. But this is a great opportunity, great win for a team for us and continue to roll.â€
Los Angeles Chargers Rolling
Another team that is peaking at the right time is the LA Chargers. They have won eight of their last nine games, including Sunday’s 33-30 victory on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team was a 4-point underdog against the Steelers and won outright. They were a +140 on the moneyline.
The Chargers are now one game behind Kansas City in the AFC West, but three of their four remaining games aren’t exactly gimmes. They face Cincinnati Sunday, and are 14-point picks, but then travel to Kansas City, host Baltimore, and travel to Denver.
Conversely Kansas City hosts Baltimore and the Chargers, travel to Seattle, and host the Oakland Raiders.
Chicago’s ATS Streak Broken
The Chicago Bears had a chance to make it six victories ATS, but instead lost outright to the New York Giants. The Bears, who were favored by 3.5 points, were down by 10 with 1:49 remaining in the game.
They moved the ball 62 yards in 36 seconds and settled for a field goal. The onside kick was successful, and Chicago got the ball to the 1-yard line with three seconds left. A trick play with running back Tarik Cohen throwing a TD pass to Anthony Miller forced the game into overtime.
But the Giants scored a field goal in overtime, and stopped the Bears on their possession to snap the streak.
Bad Beat of the Week
Those who had the over on the first half score of the Kansas City Chiefs-Oakland Raiders game were sweating it out, as the 27 points were not even close to being covered through 22 minutes of the game.
A Harrison Butker 50-yard field goal made it 13-0 with seven minutes remaining before halftime. The Raiders scored with 1:04 left on a 1-yard Doug Martin run to make it 13-7, but when the ensuing kick off was stopped at the Kansas City 5-yard line, many thought quarterback Patrick Mahomes would take a knee and go into the midway point up by six.
But Mahomes had other ideas and marched the team 95 yards in 48 seconds, capping the drive off with a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Travis Kelce. Now an extra point would have given the overs a push, but a blocked PAT foiled that, and sent the over ticket holders straight to the bar.