Carolina Panthers vs Houston Texans Prediction 8/16/2025 Today’s NFL Picks

In this article, we will formulate a Panthers vs Texans Prediction for this NFL Week 2 Preseason game on Saturday, August 16th at the NRG Stadium. Let’s take a look at the prediction for this NFL matchup.

Carolina Panthers Preview

In their preseason opener last week, the Panthers lost by 30-10 at home by the Cleveland Browns. They got outgained by their opponents by 251-308 yards and had 53 total plays. They had 23/35 completed passes, 211 passing yards, 40 rushing yards, and lost the turnover battle by 0-2. The Panthers went 3-12 in third down efficiency and were 1-2 in the red zone. Carolina led 7-0 in the opening period of the game, but the Brown answered with a combined 21-0 run in the second and third periods of the game.

Andy Dalton led Carolina with 13/19 passes and 101 passing yards, Jack Plummer had 6/10 passes and 79 yards, while Bryce Young had 4/6 passes and 58 yards. Emani Bailey had a team-high 21 rushing yards, while Tetairoa McMillan caught 2 passes for 43 yards. Defensively, Thomas Incoom had 5 solo tackles and one sack, Trevor Etienne had one fumble but Carolina had no interceptions.

Houston Texans Preview

In their preseason opener last week, the Texans lost by 20-10 on the road against the Minnesota Vikings. They got outgained by their opponents by 194-261 yards and had 53 total plays. They had 22/34 completed passes, 129 passing yards, 65 rushing yards, and lost the turnover battle by 1-3. The Texans went 6-14 in third down efficiency and were 1-1 in the red zone. Houston led 7-3 in the opening period of the game, while the Vikings answered with a combined 17-3 record in the next three periods of the game.

Kedon Slovis had 11/15 passes with 71 passing yards, Davis Mills had 4/5 passes for 50 yards and Graham Mertz had 7/14 passes for 27 yards. Dare Ogunbowale had a team-high 29 rushing yards, while John Metchie caught 5 passes for 45 yards. Defensively, Myles Bryant had 6 total tackles, 4 of them solo, while Casey Toohill and Haggai Ndubuisi had one sack each. Houston had one interception in that game.

Panthers vs Texans Prediction

The Panthers have won their last five head-to-head meetings against the Texans, having covered the spread in all five. They have also won their last three visits in Houston, while under is 4-0-1 in their last 5 meetings.

In this Panthers vs Texans Prediction, the Texans are coming as -1.5-point home favorites. Both teams did not look good in their week 1 preseason games, and I am not rushing to the window to back either team in this matchup. Both teams had one thing in common – their offense struggled mightily, as they scored 10 points each, and those two teams have a history of low-scoring games, as none of their last 5 meetings has gone over the point total. Their last three meetings had 28, 33, and 26 total points, and with both teams having score combined 20 points in their preseason openers, I am going with the under 39.5 points in this one.