Official Texans @ Bengals Game Thread, 11/16/2015

[Arky]

The 3-5 Texans travel to Cincinnati to take on the 8-0 Bengals this Monday night in a prime time affair. The Bengals are coming off Thursday night home win over the Browns 31-10 and thus will have extra rest for the contest.

The Texans, coming off their bye week, will have additional rest time and will need it as the they will be big underdogs. Walterfootball came up with this trend regarding undefeated teams, large spreads and prime time:

..............It sort of makes sense that teams laying two-plus touchdowns wouldn't show up, but that's a small sample size and doesn't apply to any squad this week. So, let's try a different approach:

On National TV: 9-3 ATS

Whoa, here we go. Undefeated teams might be lazy when being favored by a ton against poor opponents, but not if they're showcased in a prime-time affair. These teams have gotten up for the national stage, and predictably so. The three exceptions were the 2007 Patriots, who were favored by 23.5 over the Eagles and 20 at Baltimore, but didn't cover either; and the Colts, who battled rival New England in 2009. Every other occurrence covered, which bodes well for the Bengals on Monday night.

So, doesn't look good for the Texans to cover the spread much less win the game..... :/

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TV = ESPN, 7:30 pm, Monday, October 16

Announcers = Mike Turico, John Gruden

The line = Bengals by 10 to 12

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Sunday viewing in the Houston area:

CBS (early) = Miami @ Philadelphia -- Kevin Harlan, Rich Gannon

CBS (late) = Kansas City @ Denver -- Greg Gumbel, Trent Green

FOX (early) = Dallas @ Tampa Bay -- Kevin Burkhardt, John Lynch

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Other prime time:

TNF = Buffalo @ New York Jets (NFLN)

SNF = Arizona @ Seattle (NBC)

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Teams on bye: Atlanta, Indianapolis, San Diego, San Francisco