Seahawks vs. Texans Odds, Predictions, Picks: Can Seattle Cover Big Spread In NFL Week 14?

Seahawks vs. Texans Odds

After several weeks of struggles, the Seahawks turned things around and took down the 49ers. Despite Seattle's bleak playoff hopes, the attitude and leadership of Russell Wilson will keep it playing hard to end the year. The question is will effort matter. Even with Wilson back these past four games, Seattle has simply not looked like a good football team. Fortunately, a matchup with Houston is the perfect rebound opportunity.

Six quarters into the season, Houston looked like it may be a surprise this year. Not because it was going to win a ton of games but because it was going to at least compete with other teams. Then, injury struck Tyrod Taylor. Since he went down, everything has spiraled out of control. We will see if the return of rookie Davis Mills as quarterback can reignite Houston.

Even with playoffs out of the picture, a win makes going home Sunday night that much sweeter. Let’s dig deeper to see which team plays with pride and rests more easily Sunday evening.

Seahawks vs. Texans Matchup

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Can Seahawks Offense Return to Form?

Last week the Seahawks had their first respectable score mark since Wilson’s return. Despite putting up 30 points, the offense still has not shown it has returned to form. In the past four weeks, Seattle is averaging just 182 passing yards.

Things have not been much better on the ground. If you exclude the fake punt 73-yard touchdown run last week, the Seahawks have averaged 67 rushing yards per game. Good news is Alex Collins will be back, so they will not have to rely on Adrian Peterson once again. Peterson ran 11 times for only 16 yards in his lone game with the Seahawks.

In this favorable matchup, Seattle may look to break DK Metcalf out of his slump. In his past five games, Metcalf has failed to record more than 60 yards receiving. Blame can be passed to Wilson’s finger, but that has not stopped fellow receiver Tyler Lockett. Lockett has recorded more than 60 yards receiving in each of the past three games.

Defensively, Seattle has one of the most interesting dynamics currently working in its favor. It currently ranks second-to-last in yards allowed per game but is sixth-best in points allowed per game. This means teams have the freedom to march up and down the field, but when it comes down to crunch time, the Seahawks step up. This has led to the Seahawks ranking fourth-best in red-zone defense, allowing just 23 touchdowns on 46 attempts.

Texans Now Turn Back to Davis Mills

Little more needs to be said for the Texans than that they are bottom five in points and yards on both offense and defense.

On offense they have struggled to find success in any facet of the game. Through the air, they rank last with 5.1 net yards per attempt. As if things could not get any worse, now starting quarterback Taylor is out for the remainder of the season and rookie Mills will take over.

Not all of the passing game struggles rest on their quarterback play though. Houston has had nearly no viable options to target in the passing game. Brandin Cooks has played well, but outside of him no wide receiver has more than 30 targets on the year.

On the ground, things have not been much better. Houston does little to help its running backs, ranking last in yards before contact per carry. per Pro-Football-Reference. Then the backs have done little to make anything happen themselves, as they have recorded the fourth-fewest broken tackles.

Defensively, the Texans have been bad but at least have flashed signs of hope. They have forced the fourth-most interceptions and currently rank 23rd in net yards per attempt allowed. Their pass defense is frequently overshadowed by the struggles against the run though. They allow the sixth-most yards per carry and just released Zack Cunningham for culture reasons. As we close out the year, things might be worse for the team that already has allowed the most rushing yards on the year.

Seahawks vs. Texans Predictions, Picks

The Texans are a team that's situation just went from bad to worse. The loss of their quarterback is a setback offensively, and the loss of Cunningham dampens an already bad defense.

In games that Mills has started, Houston has scored more than 10 points just twice. The first was the shocker where they almost took down New England. The second was against the Rams when they were down 38-0 already and Los Angeles sent in its backups. It is hard to imagine they recreate either of those "successes."

As for the Seahawks offense, given the talented playmakers, this should be a pick-your-poison situation for them. The Texans do not have the defensive backfield to match up with the size and speed of the Seahawks receivers. If they choose to limit the big play, they are putting their bad run defense in an even worse spot. If they choose to load the box, Metcalf and Lockett will go off.

We have seen what Houston’s offense looks like with Mills as the starter, and it is not pretty. The only question when looking at the spread then is how much to trust the Seahawks attack. I know they have done little to earn any faith recently, but they simply out-talent the Texans defense by too much. Trust them to take care of business and win this one comfortably.

Pick: Seahawks -8.5 | Bet to: -9.5