The Houston Texans (1-9-1) welcome the Cleveland Browns (4-7) over to the NRG Stadium on Sunday for a Week 13 matchup. A tally of one wins from 11 games leaves the Houston Texans with a divisional ranking of fourth in the AFC South, while the Cleveland Browns are third in the AFC North after collecting four victories out of a possible 11. There seems to be no end to the misery supporters of the Houston Texans have endured this season. Form is appalling, with six defeats on the bounce now, and they look there for the taking when Cleveland Browns rock up at the NRG Stadium.

Form Houston Texans

The Houston Texans were dealt a tough blow last week when they lost 30-15 to the Miami Dolphins. The defeat extended their losing streak to six games, leaving their overall record for the past 10 games at 1-9.

Things haven’t improved on the offense front for the Houston Texans at all, having put just 13.6 points on board across the last five matches. In all, the offense has averaged 15.8 points for the season. On the other side of the ball, the defense has been relatively average in the league recently. The hosts have given up 24.6 points in the previous five outings, which is more or less on par with the 23.6 points they’ve allowed per game over the course of the regular season.

In 2021, the Houston Texans came home in third place in the AFC South standings after going 4-13 across all games. The hosts naturally hope to go even better this season. However, like every other team in the NFL, sealing a spot in the playoff during this regular season is the first and foremost priority for now.

Form Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns got a nice surprise win by beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-17 in their last time out. They now have a 3-7 record from their last 10 matches and are 1-4 in the last 5 on the road.

The Cleveland Browns will bring a middle-of-the-park offense for their latest game on the road, having scored 23.9 points per game this season. On the other side of the ball, the defense has been relatively average in the league recently. The visitors have given up 24.6 points in the previous five outings, which is more or less on par with the 26.0 points they’ve allowed per game over the course of the regular season.

In 2021, the Cleveland Browns went 8-9 to end up third in the AFC North and out of playoff contention. They were expected to make a return to NFL postseason this year, but it looks like fans will have to wait a little longer as the visitors are only 4-7 this season so far.

H2H

The total reached 45.0 points in the most recent encounter between these teams in September 2021. The matchup ended in a 31-21 road victory for the Cleveland Browns back then. The Houston Texans came away with three wins from their past five matchups against the Cleveland Browns, leaving them with an overall record of 3-2.

The Houston Texans tallied 20.27 points on average per game from their 11 most recent head-to-head games against the Cleveland Browns. The latter managed an average of 15.18 points in comparison.

Standings

Betting

Moneyline

Take the Cleveland Browns (-312) for the outright win as the Houston Texans have had a tough time against AFC teams recently, losing 13 of their last 19 matchups. They’ll look to turn things around on Sunday. The visitors have also won their last two matchups against the Houston Texans and we predict they will continue this trend on Sunday.

Spread

The Cleveland Browns (–111) open as the 7.0 point road favorites against the Houston Texans, according to the oddsmakers. This suggests they should win by over one field goal at the very least. The last five rounds between the Houston Texans and the Cleveland Browns have been rather one-sided, with an average winning margin of up to 12.2 points.

Backing the Houston Texans to cover the spread looks like a red flag here, even on home soil. They’ve failed to cover the spread in their last three outings ahead of Sunday’s matchup. The hosts are also 4-3 ATS in the past seven games at home and 3-7 ATS overall from their previous ten games.

The past five visits to the NRG Stadium have seen the Cleveland Browns end up on the wrong side of the scoreboard five times, with an average losing margin of 12.2 points. The visitors are 3-3 ATS from their six most recent road trips, as well as 5-5 ATS in their last ten games overall.

Total

Matches between the Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns tend not to be the most high-scoring affairs, as the average total has been 35.45 points in their last 11 meetings.

The average total in the last five encounters between the Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns was 38.2 points. As the total for their latest showdown is set at 45.0, taking the Under (–108) might just be worth its weight in gold.

The last three times the Houston Texans were in action, the total went under. Looking back on the last five games on home soil for the Houston Texans, the total went over two times. They are 4-6 against the total overall from their previous ten matches.

As for the Cleveland Browns, the average total has been 49.9 points in the away team’s past ten matches and 49.2 points in the last five on the road. Over was a winning bet three times in the past 5 road games for the Cleveland Browns, who are 6-3 against the total in their last 10 home and away games combined.