On Thursday Night Football, we have an AFC South battle with the Indianapolis Colts coming into NRG Stadium to face the Houston Texans. The stakes on Thursday are “first place” in the division. Houston will be looking to exorcise the demons of last week when they were thrashed 41-7 in Baltimore. But the Ravens have been doing that to a lot of teams lately. And after going on a win two/lose one pattern for the last nine weeks, the Texans look to take it to the Colts on their field. But the Colts are looking to get on their own roll, ending a two-game slide last week with a through 33-13 win over Jacksonville? Who can cover the number this week?
Recent History
The Colts have recently gotten the measure of Houston with three straight wins against their divisional rivals. About a month ago, Indy was able to beat Houston, 30-23. It was a back-and-forth game, with Indy building a 12 point lead in the second half and winning by a TD. Neither team could run the ball well, which was odd considering they usually are pretty decent in that area. It was more of an aerial battle. Jacoby Brissett was huge on the day for Indy, outshining Deshaun Watson, who threw two picks.
Houston’s Defense Sliding?
Other than a three-point allowance to the Jags a few weeks ago, the Houston “D” is heading in the wrong direction. Besides the Jacksonville game, they’ve allowed an average of over 30 points to their last five opponents. The pass defense has been a significant issue, something that indeed surfaced in their first game with Indy this season, with Brissett over 300 yards with 4 TD throws. But if their run-defense is starting to slip, it would really hurt against Indy, who had two 100-yard rushers last week. We don’t want to be too hard on teams right after getting manhandled by the Baltimore offense. That has happened to some good teams this season who were able to bounce back from that with big wins. Still, the lack of resistance was astounding.
Compromised Offenses
Houston without Will Fuller (questionable) always seems a tick off on offense. DeAndre Hopkins is a fine receiver, and he gets help from Darren Fells and Kenny Stills, but they are a bit thin. The run-game, something they couldn’t get going last week or against Indy in their first game, is pretty robust with Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson. But Indy has a lot of balance on their defense, with some pass-rushing and playmaking, to boot. There might not be anything the Indy “D” does great, but there isn’t an area Houston can exploit, and they haven’t the last several times these teams have played.
Indy, however, is even thinner aerially. Brissett has some good tight ends, but sorely misses TY Hilton (questionable). Ten games into the season and their leading receiver is Zach Pascal with 364 yards. Their run-game was pretty good, and last week, Jonathan Williams came from out of nowhere with a 100-yard game. Marlon Mack was also over 100, but a hand injury will keep him out of action. Against the Texans, this offense can thrive, despite a lack of star-power. This is where a good offensive line can come in handy and where Houston not having one could come back to haunt them. But I’d be lying if I said the likely absence of both Mack and Hilton isn’t alarming.
- Get more details: Colts at Texans NFL Match-up Stats
