Let me get this off my chest right away. I deplore Bill O'Brien's play not-to-lose approach. I understand it, though, because he has a stiff for a quarterback in Brock Osweiler.

There may be only two worst starting quarterbacks than Osweiler and that's Colin Kaepernick and Case Keenum. Kaepernick at least brings a dangerous run dimension to his game. The Lions haven't faced Kaepernick, but they went against Keenum two games ago at home and made the journeyman look like Joe Montana. Keenum was 27 of 32 for 321 yards with three touchdown passes and one interception against Detroit.

This is a big game for the Texans following their embarrassing Monday night loss to the Broncos. The Texans are not in the class of the Broncos and Patriots. But because of their defense, they are a step above the Lions.

The Lions are a dome team traveling for the first time in four weeks. They are going to play in an outdoor grass stadium. They are 2-11 ATS in their last 13 grass games.

Matthew Stafford is playing well. Marvin Jones is showing he can be a No. 1 wide receiver. But the Lions' defense can't compare to the Texans especially with the key injuries they have. The Lions have been out without their top run stuffer, Haloti Ngata, their best linebacker, DeAndre Levy, and last week their top defensive back,Darius Slay, suffered a hamstring injury.

I don't trust the Texans to cover a margin. But I do trust them to win this home game. So I'm going to lay extra juice and back the Texans on the money line.