The Pittsburgh Steelers host the Houston Texans on “Monday Night Football” to wrap up Week 7 of the NFL season. Pittsburgh opened as a 4-point favorite, but the line has come down to between 3 points and 3.5 points at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The total opened at 44.5 points, and has remained there.
Both teams sit at 3-3 straight up, with the Texans at 4-2 against the spread and the Steelers at 2-4 ATS. The Texans are 5-3 ATS in their last eight road games, but they are in the midst of a 10-game losing streak straight up as road underdogs.
The Steelers are 5-5 ATS in their last 10 home games. They are 6-8 ATS as a home favorite over the last two seasons, and went under in 10 of those 14 games.
The two teams have faced off four times since Houston re-joined the league. They have split the series both straight up and against the spread. The under hit in three of the four meetings. The OddsShark Computer predicts a 23-17 Steelers win, which would cover the spread and hit the under again.
Pittsburgh likely enters this game missing a pair of key components of their run defense. Defensive tackle Steve McLendon is out with a shoulder injury and will be replaced by rookie Stephon Tuitt, who will be making his first career start. Inside linebacker Ryan Shazier is questionable with a knee injury. Shazier has missed three straight games, but seems to be taking some steps forward as he had previously been ruled out by the final injury reports.
Houston enters the “Monday Night Football” matchup in fairly decent shape on the injury report. Arian Foster and Andre Johnson are both listed as probable. Foster got in a pair of full practices this week, while Johnson got in one. Both will play Monday. Rookie Jadeveon Clowney returned to practice for the first time since the beginning of the season. He had knee surgery after Week 1, and has slowly been working his way back. He is listed as questionable, and if he does play, he likely would be on a limited snap count.
Photo via Andrew Weber/USA TODAY Sports
