Week 2 Thursday Night Football Odds Preview

After opening the season with upset losses the Houston Texans and the Cincinnati Bengals will both be looking to turn things around with a win when they clash on Thursday Night Football to open Week 2.

The Bengals get home field advantage and have been listed as a 6.5-point favorite at the Bovada Sportsbook.

Cincinnati began the season with a horrendous performance in a 20-0 shutout loss to the Baltimore Ravens as a 2.5-point favorite. Andy Dalton had one of the worst games of his career, completing 16 of 31 passes for 170 yards with four interceptions and a lost fumble. The Cincinnati running game was also bleak as Giovani Bernard, Jeremy Hill and Joe Mixon combined to rush for 75 yards on 21 carries. In total the Bengals offense had only 221 total yards in the loss.

Houston's start to the season wasn't much better. The Texans were a 6-point favorite in a 29-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tom Savage ran the offense into the ground, completing seven of 13 passes for 62 yards while getting sacked six times before being replaced by rookie Deshaun Watson. Watson completed 12 of 23 passes for 102 yards with one touchdown and an interception and is expected to take over as starting QB this week.

The matchup history heavily favors the Texans. Houston is 7-1 straight up in their last eight versus Cincinnati and they're 7-2 ATS in their last nine. However, since Houston is playing on the road they aren't guaranteed a victory. In their last eight road games the Texans are 2-6 SU and ATS. There's also Houston's unbelievably awful record in night games. In their last 24 games played at night the Texans are 2-21-1 ATS.

Following last week's loss the Bengals are 3-6 SU and 4-5 ATS in their last nine games. Cincinnati isn't much better at home with a 5-5 record SU and 4-5-1 mark ATS in their last 10 games.

For totals bettors the trends are pointing toward the UNDER. Cincinnati has gone UNDER the posted total in five straight and eight of their last nine games. Houston is 6-2 UNDER in their last eight games and their last four matchups with the Bengals have all gone UNDER the posted total.