Every year after the college football regular season wraps up – which happened last Saturday with the Army vs. Navy game – the NFL stages at least a couple of games on a Saturday to fill the void because the Thursday night NFL slate ends in Week 15 each year. This Saturday to kick off Week 16 the league offers up three games ahead of every team playing on Sunday in Week 17.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The opener at 1 p.m. ET is the Houston Texans at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are 3-point home underdogs. The Bucs are playing out the string and will miss the playoffs for a 12th straight season, the second-longest drought in the NFL behind Cleveland. Tampa Bay at least has shown improvement in 2019 under first-year coach Bruce Arians after winning just five games each of the previous two years under then-coach Dirk Koetter.

Houston is chasing the AFC South title and if not then a Wild-Card spot. The Texans won a huge game at the Tennessee Titans last Sunday to take sole possession of first in the division and turn around and host Tennessee in Week 17 in a game that could determine the South champion. Houston is 1-6 ATS in its past seven games as a favorite.