Net Yards Per Play Report (Houston Texans are a Legitimate Contender)

Strap in because it's time for the best weekend of football of the NFL regular season.

Not only do we have Thanksgiving Day games to watch and bet on, but with the addition of the Black Friday game, we have at least one game to enjoy in four of the five days from Thursday to Monday.

Before you place your bets, it's time to take a look at the latest standings in my favorite stat, Net Yards per Play.

What is Net Yards per Play?

Net Yards per Play is the figure you're left with when you take the average yards gained per play on offense and then subtract the average yards given up per play on defense.

Remember, Net Yards per Play doesn't take into account things like penalties, turnovers, and red zone efficiency. With that being said, it's a good starting point to see how well a team moves the ball down the field while preventing their opponents from doing so.

If you want to check out my best bet for all 16 NFL Week 12 games, you'll find them in this week's edition of the "Road to 272 Bets."

Net Yards per Play Standings for NFL Week 12

If you want to use the above numbers to help you place your bets this weekend, you should do so at Caesars Sportsbook. If you use the link below to sign up for an account, you'll receive your first bet on Caesars, up to $1,000!

Texans' Success is Not a Fluke

The Houston Texans have been one of the best storylines of the season. They went from being a dumpster fire, basement-dwelling team to a franchise with a bright future in a single offseason. They got their head coach, defensive cornerstone, and franchise QB all at once.

Heading into Week 12, the Texans are sitting at 6-4, firmly in a wild card spot in the AFC Playoffs and well in the mix for the AFC South crown. Their record is no fluke either, they're playing extremely good football. They're currently ranked ninth in the NFL in Net Yards per Play at +0.5 and are sixth in the league in that stat over each team's last three games at +1.5.

Watch out, this Texans team is for real.

Eagles are Officially on Fraud Alert

The Eagles may have the best record in the NFL at 9-1, but their Net Yards per Play standings should give Eagles' fans something to be worried about. Not only do they rank 11th in that stat this season at +0.2, but they're 23rd in that stat over their last three games at -0.5.

Last year, they were a top-three team in the NFL in Net Yards per Play for the entire season so while their record has been just as good as it was last year, their underlying metrics show they aren't executing at the same level.

Be wary of betting on them in the coming weeks when they face a murderer's row of games in the Bills, 49ers, and Cowboys the next three weeks.