Houston Texans are finally the favorites for Week 4

The Houston Texans are the favorites entering the Week 4 game against the Minnesota Vikings.

For the first time this season the Houston Texans are listed as the favorites by oddsmakers on The Action Network for their Week 4 game against the Minnesota Vikings at NRG Stadium.

This has been an interesting week thus far for both the Houston Texans and Vikings as there was a lot of chatter about the Texans and Earl Thomas joining forces, which didn’t amount to much. There is also the fact the Vikings had to shut down football activities on Tuesday due to COVID-19 testing, making for an interesting start of the week to say the least.

This past Sunday the Vikings moved to 0-3 when they lost to the Tennessee Titans, and since then the Titans have had numerous positive COVID-19 results, forcing them to shut down football activities until at least Saturday. That said, since Minnesota played the Titans they too had to take the necessary precautions for COVID-19 testing and close their doors for football activities until all COVID-19 testing results are returned.

As for odds listed on The Action Network for Thursday morning, the Houston Texans are -4.5 favorites against Minnesota on the FanDuel NJ sports book. In the first three games this season the Texans were listed as the underdog.

This season the Texans have more passing yards from Deshaun Watson (726) then the Vikings do from Kirk Cousins (581), but Watson has 95 attempts with 64 completions, while Cousins is 46-of-78 for the season.

Houston Texans: Watson being sacked a lot early in 2020

One issue that stands out for the Houston Texans and quarterback Deshaun Watson is he’s been sacked 13 times in three games for a loss of 66 yards. Cousins this season in three games has been sacked seven times for a loss of 42 yards.

In another offensive stat category that will be of great importance this Sunday between the two 0-3 teams is the Vikings have out rushed the Houston Texans this season 440-198 with Minnesota rushing more with 73 attempts compared to 54 attempts by the Texans.

Unless these two teams finish in a tie, somebody is leaving NRG Stadium with their first win of the season, but to be honest it could be too close to call until the final score is official.

For the Houston Texans, though the Vikings aren’t a walk in the park, they are a bit of a downgrade from the previous three teams the Texans have faced to start the season. That said, the schedule of the Vikings has been pretty tough as well, making this an interesting matchup on Sunday.