The New Orleans Saints and Houston Texans will meet in a cross-conference preseason battle on Sunday. The two teams will meet at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans for an evening contest that wraps up the preseason for both sides. In fact, Saints vs. Texans is the final exhibition game on tap across the NFL, with Week 1 now on the horizon. New Orleans is 2-0 in the preseason, while Houston is 1-1 after a loss to Miami last week.
Kickoff is at 8 p.m. ET in New Orleans. New Orleans is a 2.5-point favorite, while the over/under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 37.5 in the latest Texans vs. Saints odds. Before you make any Texans vs. Saints picks or predictions, you need to see what SportsLine NFL expert Larry Hartstein has to say.
A former lead writer for Covers and The Linemakers, Hartstein combines a vast network of Vegas sources with an analytical approach he honed working for Pro Football Focus. Larry tied for 52nd place (out of 1,598 entries) in the 2022 Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest, going 53-34-3 ATS. Those selections formed the basis of his SportsLine NFL best bets article, which finished 36-25-1. In addition, Hartstein has gone 44-29 on his last 73 NFL picks involving the Commanders, returning $1,134. Anybody who has been following him is way up.
Now, Hartstein has set his sights on Texans vs. Saints and just locked in his picks and NFL preseason predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see his picks. Now, here are several NFL odds and betting lines for Texans vs. Saints:
- Texans vs. Saints spread: Saints -2.5
- Texans vs. Saints over/under: 37.5 points
- Texans vs. Saints money line: Saints -145, Texans +125
- Houston: Texans were 8-8-1 against the spread in 2022
- New Orleans: Saints were 7-10 against the spread in 2022
- Texans vs. Saints picks: See picks at SportsLine
Why the Texans can cover
The Texans have won four straight road preseason games and are expected to deploy starters in this preseason finale. At the same time, intel points to New Orleans resting several key pieces, which bodes well for No. 2 overall pick CJ Stroud. The talented quarterback from Ohio State will likely get the preseason start for Houston and was a top-four Heisman Trophy voter in back-to-back seasons. Stroud threw for 8,123 yards in two seasons, generating 85 touchdown passes with 9.8 yards per attempt and only 12 interceptions.
Stroud led the country in passing efficiency (177.7) last season and is flanked by another quality option, Davis Mills. The third-year quarterback made 26 starts for Houston over the last two seasons, producing 33 touchdowns and nearly 6,000 yards. The Texans also project for a potential edge at the skill positions, with starters like Dameon Pierce and Nico Collins projected to play. See which team to pick here.
Why the Saints can cover
While New Orleans is not expected to play many of its starters, the Saints have won and covered three straight preseason games. New Orleans may also have the advantage at quarterback, even with Houston set to deploy its top two options. Veteran Jameis Winston will get the start for New Orleans, and he has 261 passing yards and a touchdown in preseason action. Winston is completing more than 70% of his preseason attempts and led three second-quarter scoring drives in last week's win. Winston is one of the top backup quarterbacks in the NFL and the former Pro Bowl selection has 80 career starts and more than 21,000 career passing yards to go along with 139 NFL touchdown passes.
Behind Winston, New Orleans has rookie Jake Haener, who has 223 yards and a touchdown in preseason action. He threw for more than 9,000 yards and 67 touchdowns as a college standout at Fresno State. See which team to pick here.
How to make Texans vs. Saints picks
Hartstein has analyzed this matchup and while we can tell you he's leaning Under the point total, he has discovered a critical X-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the spread. He's only sharing what it is, and which side to back, at SportsLine.
Who wins Texans vs. Saints, and which critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Saints vs. Texans spread hits hard, all from the expert who is on a 44-29 roll on picks involving New Orleans games, and find out.
