The Houston Texans will try to prove to the rest of the NFL that they are a legitimate team when they host their division rivals, the Indianapolis Colts, on Thursday Night.
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Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans, Thursday, October 9, 8:25 PM. ET. CBS.
The Colts won the AFC South last season, due to the fact that the Texans imploded badly, after winning the division for two straight years. The Texans went into last season with Super Bowl aspirations, but quarterback Matt Schaub had his worst year as a pro, and cost his team some chances to win games by leading the league with interceptions returned for touchdowns.
The team regrouped this year, trading Schaub to the Raiders, and signing the number one pick in the NFL draft Jadeveon Clowney. While they improved in a lot of aspects over the off-season, the team failed to address their quarterback situation, and it looks like it might cost them again this year, because Ryan Fitzpatrick has been a turnover machine lately.
Andrew Luck has continued to improve his game every year since he was drafted, and currently leads the NFL in passing yards, which was something Colts fans were used to seeing his predecessor Peyton Manning do.
The Colts, however have to improve their running game, in order to take pressure away from their young quarterback, they have tried to fix the problem since last year, but have been unable to do so since they realized that Trent Richardson isn’t an every down back.
In fairness to the team, they have improved their running game slightly, especially in recent weeks, and are 17th in the league, averaging 117.8 yards per game. If they can keep it up, the Colts offense will be even harder to stop.
Defensively, the Colts have managed to do well, even without the presence of Robert Mathis, who was their leading pass rusher. They are the 13th best team against the run, and the 16th best against the pass, which are numbers that keep improving each week, which makes the Colts a very dangerous team down the road.
The Texans haven’t looked very good throwing the ball this season, running back Arian Foster, when healthy has shown that he is still one of the best running backs in the league, and is third in rushing yards, despite missing almost two games. The passing game needs to pick up the slack, so they don’t waste Foster’s performances.
Ryan Fitzpatrick has done a terrible job taking care of the ball lately, and is tied for the league lead with 6 interceptions. If Fitzpatrick doesn’t play better, the team doesn’t have a reliable backup they can put in the lineup, which can ultimately cost them a chance of making the playoffs.
Game Line: The Colts are favored to win by 2.5 points, the Over/Under is 46 points.
Personal Pick: The Texans need to win this game to prove to themselves and the rest of the league that they are back in the playoff mix, unfortunately for them, Andrew Luck is playing some of the best football of his career, and will lead the Colts to victory.
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