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The Texans Christine Michael Sr Jersey , main AFC South rival, are the biggest threat to take the division and look poised to make the playoffs once again." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhiteStampede Bluean Indianapolis Colts communityLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpFanpostsFanshotsColtsShopAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Colts StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Colts NewsYahoo Colts Team PageYahoo Colts ReportYahoo Colts Depth ChartYahoo Colts TransactionsYahoo Colts PhotosShop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕Analyzing Colts biggest threats in the AFC: Houston TexansNew,4commentsThe Texans, main AFC South rival, are the biggest threat to take the division and look poised to make the playoffs once again. EDTShareTweetShareShareAnalyzing Colts biggest threats in the AFC: Houston TexansPhoto by Tim Warner/Getty ImagesThe Texans have established themselves as the main rivals to the Colts in the quest for the AFC South throne. With young franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson, the best receiver in the NFL (DeAndre Hopkins), and a rock-solid defense, the Texans are a scary team in the AFC, even though there are plenty of questions surrounding the team.StrengthsPhoto by Bob Levey/Getty ImagesThe Texans biggest strength on defense is, without a doubt, their front 7. The Texans feature an All-Pro-caliber duo in J.J Watt and Jadeveon Clowney, along with solid players around them like Whitney Mercilus and Bernardrick McKinney. The Texans had a top-3 run defense and ranked 4th in takeaways. Health is a concern for Watt and Clowney, who each have considerable injury history, but when healthy, the duo is certainly a scary sight for opposing quarterbacks. Watt is the face of the Texans, a hard-nosed monster of a man who has won DPOY 3 times in his career. He is neck and neck with Aaron Donald for title of best defensive linemen in the League. He makes the Texans defense exponentially better all by himself, and is always a force to be reckoned with.On offense, the Texans have Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins, who form one of the best QB/WR duos in the NFL. Watson can make plays both with his arm and with his legs. Last season he threw for 26 touchdowns to just 9 picks and rushed for 551 yards, adding 5 more scores. Hopkins is undeniably a top-3 receiver in the league. He is impressive all-around and has the best set of hands of any receiver. In fact, he did not drop a single catchable pass last season.The Texans are coached by Bill O’Brien, who so far has done a wonderful job of developing Deshaun Watson and forming a well-coached team. Since O’Brien took over in 2014, the Texans have had a winning record in 4 out of 5 years.WeaknessesPhoto by Bob Levey/Getty ImagesThe Texans biggest weakness is, by far, their offensive line. Last season the Texans allowed the most sacks in the NFL Pat McAfee Color Rush Jersey , had the highest adjusted sack rate and ranked in the bottom 8th in all running categories (numbers taken from Football Outsiders). Watson took a lot of hits, and, as Colts fans know all too well, quarterbacks cannot withstand an unlimited amount of blows. The Texans tried to fix their offensive line through the draft, but in the first round, possibly the best tackle in the Draft, Andre Dillard, was taken just a pick before them, as the Eagles leapfrogged them at #23. The Texans ended up settling for Tytus Howard, who has the potential of becoming a solid tackle, but is considered a developmental prospect, as his technique is quite raw and he comes from a small school. Max Scharping was a solid pick in the second round. He has plenty of starting experience, but his pass-blocking technique is suspect, and the Texans need guys that can keep Watson clean.The Texans other weakness is their secondary, which lost starting safety Tyrann Mathieu and starting cornerback/safety Kareem Jackson. Even though the Texans defense ranked in the top 3 against the run, they actually ranked in the bottom 5 against the pass. Houston did add Tashaun Gipson, but he does not have the ceiling Mathieu has. 2nd round pick Lonnie JohnsonJr. might have to step in as the starting cornerback in Week 1. The Colts passing attack seems to have the Texans number. In their three matchups last season, Luck posted a 64% completion rate, 1.085 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 2 picks. T.Y Hilton (A.K.A NRG Stadium owner) torched them in their own stadium on both matchups.Another weakness of the Texans is how thin they are at receiver. Other than DeAndre Hopkins, no other player caught more than 35 passes last year. Will Fuller is an explosive weapon when on the field,but he has had injury issues his whole career and is coming off a torn ACL. Keke Coutee has a high ceiling, but he was not consistent in his rookie season and also dealt with some injuries himself.Houston’s roster had some glaring weaknesses entering the off-season, and it seems like the team did not do nearly enough to address them. The Texans offensive line looks as sketchy as it did when the season ended https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Jack-Doyle-Jersey , and the secondary got even worse. The signing of Bradley Roby was not a bad one by any means, but the cornerback room on Houston does not have a single guy without their fair share of questions.How they match up with the ColtsPhoto by Tim Warner/Getty ImagesLast year we got a pretty good feeling about how the Colts match up with the Texans, as they faced each other twice in the regular season (as they do every year) and also in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The Colts lost their first matchup on Week 4, 37-34 in an OT thriller at Lucas Oil Stadium. Luck torched the Texans that game, throwing for 4 TDs and over 450 yards. However, with Marlon Mack out, the Colts running game never got going, and after a questionable call to go for it on 4th down by Frank Reich (I still think that call was the right one), the Colts lost the game on a field goal.The rematch came in Week 14, at NRG Stadium. Both teams came in with long winning streaks, and the game was key for the Colts playoff aspirations. This time the Colts defense was solid, and the Colts managed to beat the Texans 24-21. In the Wild Card game, the Colts dominated the Texans. Marlon Mack ran freely against them, racking up 148 yards and a touchdown, as Indy won 21-7 and moved on to the Divisional Round.My impression for next season is that the Colts, with the moves they made this off-season and the expected progression of young players, look perfectly set to possibly sweep the Texans, and most likely re-establish themselves at the top of the AFC South. The Colts offensive-line should continue to improve, the receiver room improved drastically, and Indy will now have a legitimate pass-rusher in Justin Houston, who will have a field day against Houston’s tackles. T.Y Hilton will also be at full health now, and he probably can defeat the Texans all by himself. I expect Houston to lose a step compared to last season, and I would not be surprised if they actually miss the Playoffs. There are just too many questions unanswered. This team is relying too much on Deshaun Watson’s magic, and with a mediocre offensive line in front of him, he will probably get hit a lot again. If Watson misses a part of the season Adam Vinatieri Jersey , then the Texans are doomed. Houston’s backup quarterback right now is A.J McCarron, who has not thrown a touchdown since 2015, and has not shown anything that would indicate he can take over a starting spot should the need arise. In a back stretch full of games that were virtually “must win” for the Colts, this week that sentiment is even more relevant. The Colts travel to Houston Sunday, and this time it really is a must win game. A loss to the Texans all but assures that the Colts will be staying home in January. With such an impactful game ahead, let’s take a look at the matchups that will define this game.Colts Offensive Line vs Texans Defensive LineThe offensive line of the Colts will look dramatically different when they take the field Sunday from the unit that faced the Texans in their first contest. How different? Well, if C Ryan Kelly is unable to play, which seems likely, the only lineman who played against the Texans in week 4 who will play Sunday is G Quenton Nelson. Although they haven’t been quite as sharp without Ryan Kelly, this is a wildly different unit than the one that allowed 4 sacks and 10 QB hits. Since that game, the team has given up just 5 more sacks. The return of Anthony Castonzo and the emergence of Mark Glowinski at right guard and Braden Smith at right tackle have solidified one of the better lines in football, and Evan Boehm has stepped up to fill in for Ryan Kelly admirably. With that said, that line will face a tough competition on Sunday. J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney are having great years and will look to be disruptive on the edge and get into the backfield like they did in the first matchup. I don’t expect the Colts’ offensive line to be perfect here, but they’ve faced a lot of very good defensive lines, and I’d be willing to bet that Quenton Nelson is a greatly improved player from the guy who got put on his butt by Clowney in week 4. This will be an important matchup to determine if the offense can get going after two rough weeks, because keeping Andrew Luck upright will be critical.Marlon Mack vs Texans linebackersPhoto by Sam Greenwood/Getty ImagesMarlon Mack has had a couple very good games, but hasn’t been a huge impact over the last few weeks. That needs to change if this team plans to make it to see the playoffs. When the Colts have effectively run the ball, it has meant a better balance, less predictability in terms of play calls, and an overall more potent offense. If they can get Marlon Mack going early, it will help establish some rhythm to the offense and set them up for shorter 2nd and 3rd down situations which are much harder to defend.I anticipate that the offensive line will be able to open some holes for Mack. It will then fall to him to take advantage at the second level. His ability to break off chunk plays hasn’t been on display this season as much as it was last year, and they need to see it resurface as this season comes to a close. They’ll need him at his best for this stretch of games, and hopefully Frank Reich has a plan to involve him more heavily than last week.T.Y. Hilton vs Texans secondaryPhoto by Tim Warner/Getty ImagesPart of the reason that the Colts need to get Marlon Mack going early is that it will enable them to open up their most significant weapon against the Texans, T.Y. Hilton. If they are able to get the play action game working to Hilton early on, this game could swing in the Colts’ favor quickly. In games where Hilton is doing his thing Marvin Harrison Color Rush Jersey , the Colts tend to get into a groove, and Hilton has put up stupid numbers against the Texans over the years. If ever they needed him to do so, now is the time. First, however, they need him to make it to a practice and get healthy for the game, which is no guarantee at this point.Anthony Walker vs Lamar MillerPhoto by Joe Robbins/Getty ImagesLamar Miller has had a pretty solid couple of weeks for the Texans. Since week 11 he has topped 100 yards from scrimmage, and his 97-yard run against the Titans is something that defensive players lose sleep over. Anthony Walker will likely be the guy primarily tasked with limiting Miller’s effectiveness in the passing game and as an explosive runner. Walker has gotten better and better as the season has gone on, and I think this is a matchup he is equipped to handle. Darius Leonard of course will play a role in this as well, but ultimately it will come down to Walker playing at his best and making sure the defense is on the same page and doing what they need to in order to limit Miller’s impact. The Colts have played relatively well against the run, but they can sometimes let those big plays get by them, and they cannot afford to do that Sunday. Stopping that means staying disciplined and making sound open field tackles. Those are things the Colts have done very well at times and very poorly at others. Deshaun Watson vs Colts secondaryPhoto by Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesThe Colts secondary has been a bit of a conundrum. At times they have played pretty well. At other times they’ve left us wanting to pull our hair out. We need a good performance this week against Deshaun Watson and a Texans team that has gotten hot. There isn’t anything unbeatable about Watson. Don’t get me wrong, he is not without ability. His athleticism makes it possible to extend plays with his legs, and he uses that when necessary. He is a good quarterback who plays smart football and has the fortune to be throwing the ball to a ridiculous receiver in the form of DeAndre Hopkins. The Texans are undoubtedly lucky to have him. If the Colts want a prayer of impacting this game, it will mean disrupting the rhythm of the receivers getting off the line of scrimmage, being quick and aggressive to react to the ball in the air, and limiting yards after the catch by making good open field tackles on receivers. These are areas they’ve struggled, and Keke Coutee was able to go over 100 yards in their first matchup because of it.The Colts will need to have a plan to minimize the impact Hopkins can have, because with Coutee nursing a hamstring issue, they don’t have a lot of other truly dangerous receivers to deal with. If they let Watson sit comfortably in the pocket and throw to the seam to Hopkins, it is going to be a very long day.