The Minnesota Vikings will travel to face the Houston Texans in a week sixteen NFL pro football game on Sunday afternoon. Kick off time from Houston is scheduled for 1PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by FOX.

The point spread opened up in this NFL game with the home club Houston Texans favored by -9 ½ points with an over under line of 44 points. Early money from the bettors has landed on the side of the road underdog Vikings as Houston is now favored by -7 points. The total has moved down a ½ point to 43 ½ points.

NFL Trend: Minnesota Vikings are 2-0 ATS in their past two games. The Minnesota Vikings will travel to Houston with a record of 8-6 on the year. The team is just 2-5 on the road. They play the back end of back to back road games. At 8-6 on the year the team sits tied with three other teams for the sixth and final playoff spot in the NFC conference. Minnesota has won two straight. They come off the 36-22 road win last week at the St Louis Rams as a +3 point underdog. The total went over 39 ½ points. Adrian Peterson had a monster game against the Rams defense as he runs for 212 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. The Vikings are living on the ground as they get just 131 passing yards from Christian Ponder. Minnesota sports the 32nd and last passing game with 168 yards a game. Ponder has two touchdown passes in his past four games. His top receive Percy Harvin is out for the year with an ankle injury.

The Houston Texans are 12-2 on the year and 6-1 at home. They sit just one game ahead of the Denver Broncos for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They bounced back from a 42-14 Monday Night Football loss to New England with a 29-17 home win against the Indianapolis Colts last week as a -10 ½ point betting favorite. The game went under 48 points. The victory clinched the AFC North division to the Texans. When teams face Minnesota the first thing you see is how they defend the run. Houston is fifth in run defense this season allowing just 93 yards a game. The Texans offense can put up points as they average 28 points a game good for third in scoring offense. The Texans strategy would be to force the Vikings away from their ground game and that would mean to build up a big lead early. Houston keeps teams off balance as they throw for 244 yards and pass for 142 yards. Quarterback Matt Schaub has one touchdown pass in his past two games.