NFL player props: Eagles' Miles Sanders treads all over the Texans

Houston and Philadelphia's baseball teams are locked at two games apiece in the World Series. Thursday night's matchup between their NFL teams won't be so close. The undefeated Eagles are 13.5-point road favorites against a 1-5-1 Texans squad trying to shake free of their palindromic record. Here are three player and game props on BetMGM that I like in tonight's contest:

Miles Sanders over 77.5 rushing yards (-115)

The Texans defense ranks 31st in yards per carry (5.6) and last in rushing yards allowed per game (186.0). Only four teams in the NFL run the ball at a higher percentage than Philadelphia, who leads the league in rushing success rate. Sanders experienced a rocky 2021, as the Eagles searched for their offensive identity. The former Penn State running back never crossed paydirt and ended the season averaging 11.4 carries and 62.8 rushing yards. This year, Sanders has seen an increase in workload and production, averaging 16.3 carries and 80.4 rushing yards to go along with five scores. He's cashed this prop in four of seven games.

Houston Texans under 1.5 total touchdowns (+100)

Houston will be without their top two receivers tonight. Nico Collins is dealing with a groin injury, while Brandin Cooks is out for personal reasons. The Texans were the league's second-worst offense with those two in the lineup, so it may get pretty ugly without them against the NFL's second-best defense. Philly leads all teams in time of possession and picks up the third-most first downs per game. Like Confucius once said, it's tough to score when you don't have the football. I don't mind a sprinkle on the Texans to not score a touchdown at +450.

Last touchdown in the game scored by Philadelphia defense/special teams (+2000)

Nick Sirianni's team tops the league in takeaways per contest (2.3). I expect them to have the game in hand by the fourth quarter, so why not add a fun little sweat by backing this ballhawking defense against a quarterback who's third-worst in EPA per play?

Stats provided by Pro Football Reference, teamrankings.com, Football Outsiders, and rbsdm.com (garbage time removed).