Falcons vs. Dolphins prediction, NFL preseason pick, odds for Fri. 8/9

The Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers will face off tonight in the NFL preseason. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.

This will be the Texans' second preseason game already after getting almost three full quarters in last week during the Hall of Fame Game. Davis Mills and Case Keenum thrived under center, although Houston was losing when the game was called off.

Texans vs. Steelers Prediction

My best bet

Texans -2.5 ( -110 at FanDuel)

Texans vs. Steelers Odds

Friday, Aug. 9, 7 p.m. ET, NFL Network

Odds via FanDuel. Get up-to-the-minute NFL odds here.

Chris Baker Analyzes the Texans vs Steelers Spread

Texans Have Experienced QB Room

The Texans will be getting their starters some reps, so expect to see C.J. Stroud for at least a drive before he passes the baton to a pair of quarterbacks who thrived last week against the Bears.

The Texans offense looked good early last Thursday as they posted 17 points in the first half, with both Davis Mills and Case Keenum stringing together touchdown drives. Mills and Keenum completed 77% and 78% of their passes, and each threw a passing touchdown. The trio of Stroud, Mills and Keenum is easily a top-five quarterback room in the NFL and I'd expect them to put up some points in this spot.

Defensively, the Texans looked like the 2023 Texans against the Bears as they were scorched through the air by Brett Rypien, who completed 11-of-15 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns. The 2023 Texans ranked 26th in dropback epa/play and the preseason opener looked like more of the same. That's especially discouraging considering that Rypien isn't exactly elite. We’ll see if Houston can improve against the Steelers.

Steelers Will Be Without Veteran Wilson

Pittsburgh will be without Russell Wilson, who, according to head coach Mike Tomlin, is still recovering from a calf injury. As a result, we should see a lot of Justin Fields early in this game. Tomlin said to expect Fields for a “couple of series.”

People have soured on Fields as an elite starter, but he clearly has the experience and talent to produce in the preseason. As a result, we should expect Pittsburgh's offense to be competent with Fields.

Behind Fields, we will see Kyle Allen and rookie John Rhys-Plumlee from UCF.

Allen has made 19 career NFL starts and thrown for nearly 5,000 yards through six seasons. Hist most recent NFL start was back in 2022 with the Texans and although Allen isn’t anything special, he should be capable of avoiding turnovers and managing the game for the Steelers.

Things could get interesting if we see Rhys-Plumlee. He's a hyper-athletic scrambling quarterback, who played both college baseball and football. His style lends itself to variance and could lead to more broken play scrambles and turnovers. He's definitely the least experienced quarterback in this game and if he plays significant snaps, we could see the Steelers struggle to score.

The Steelers may also struggle to score because of their lack of depth at receiver. The Steelers have been in the news the past few days as they are clearly trying to trade for Brandon Aiyuk. Behind George Pickens, they have Van Jefferson, rookie Roman Wilson and Quez Watkins. This isn't a very talented receiver room and that could be an issue here.