USA Today's NFL experts make their picks for an NFL playoff showdown between the New England Patriots and Houston Texans

No. 22 Houston was one of six Texas schools ranked in the final AP top 25 football poll. Texas Tech and Texas A&M each made the top 10.

The Houston Texans have a championship-level defense, and they'll see if the offense can step up Sunday when they visit the AFC East champions New England Patriots in the NFL Divisional Round. The Patriots (15-3) showed last week that they have a pretty good defense of their own,

In recent years, the pro day for Texas football has become a must-see destination for scouts from every NFL team. The Longhorns have had 23 players drafted over the past two seasons and six first-round draft picks since 2023. Expect more of the same this season, with up to 10 Texas players projected as possible draft picks.

"I knew that that was a fine," Azeez Al-Shaair of the Houston Texans said of wearing the message on his eye black during a Jan. 12 playoff game.

Marshall has crushed his NFL picks, going 56-37-2 (+1494) in his last 95 NFL against the spread picks. Now, Marshall has set his sights on Texans vs. Patriots and just locked in his picks and predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see his picks. Here are several NFL odds and betting lines for Patriots vs. Texans:

The Texans have won twice this season when Nico Collins has been out thanks to Jayden Higgins, Christian Kirk and Dalton Schultz.

Asked how he’d describe Houston’s pass rush to someone who hadn’t seen the Texans play before, coach DeMeco Ryans took a few seconds before landing on an answer.