NFL Preseason Preview: Texans vs. Vikings Game Predictions

Written by Jake Thompson
Thursday, 01 September 2011 19:05

Our week 4 preseason predictions will help preview tonight’s NFL game between the Vikings and the Texans.

The Minnesota Vikings and the Houston Texans will meet up in this 8:00 PM ET preseason game tonight, and we’ll preview the game with predictions on the final score.  Online sportsbooks have the point spread showing the home-team Vikings at -3 with the total set at 37.5.  With both teams expected to rest their starters tonight, this one becomes a tick tougher to handicap.  Close to 60% of tracked NFL bettors are favoring the Texans and we’ll let you know if the majority is making the correct wager.

Houston is 3-0 in the preseason this year and head coach Gary Kubiak might finally be taking a cue from his mentor Mike Shanahan on early season preparation (Shanahan is 45-22 in the preseason over his lengthy career).  Although the Texans seem to have put some emphasis on their preseason this year, they are still planning on resting just about every important piece on their roster for the game against the Vikings.  Look for Matt Leinhart to be at quarterback for the 1st half before rookie Taylor Yates takes over at halftime.

Minnesota doesn’t have much in the way of experience in their quarterbacks playing tonight, but Christian Ponder (1st half) and Joe Webb (2nd half) have the ability to use their legs to move the ball.  That gives the Vikings a decent-sized edge at the quarterback position because I don’t really expect anyone outside of Leinhart to be able to consistently complete passes.

Since this game will be played with mostly backups, it is important to look at how each team has done in the 2nd half of their preseason games thus far.  Houston has outscored opponents 16-13 with their backups in while the Vikings have bested them with a combined score of 17-13 in the latter stages of their NFL preseason games.

Minnesota is at home and I think the Vikings will be able to use the scrambling ability of their backup quarterbacks to get the victory here.  Houston should struggle to score and I am not expecting a particularly high-scoring affair between the Texans and Vikings.  I’m making my predictions on the home team covering the point spread while the game goes under the total with both teams playing a bit conservative.

Texans vs. Vikings Final Score Predictions:

Texans 10

Vikings 20