1. Secondary needs to have best game of season
The Houston Texans have one of the best overall defenses in the entire NFL, but what is worrisome for this unit against the likes of Andrew Luck is their previous two performances this season against him.
Luck has dominated the Texans’ secondary this season. The first two meetings for Luck against the Texans saw the Colts quarterback have a combined 863 yards passing with 67 completions on 103 attempts for six touchdowns and one interception. The Texans did sack Luck six times in the two meetings, so they have been able to put some pressure on him during the two games played in the regular season.
Now for the Texans secondary. There are holes in the unit this season, as the unit was ranked 28th in passing yards allowed per game at 260.4 yards. The depth chart of the secondary for the Texans includes Johnathan Joseph, who has been battling injuries of late and could return to the field this Saturday in the Wild Card game.
Mark Lane of TexansWire.com wrote the following on Joseph returning this Saturday:
"“Coach Bill O’Brien met with the media Monday and surmised that the 13-year veteran would be able to play in the AFC wildcard game Saturday with a neck injury that sidelined him.”"
The obvious focus for the Texans secondary is to stop, slow down or at least get in the way of T.Y. Hilton. In September, Hilton totaled four receptions for 115 yards and no touchdowns, and in December, Hilton had nine receptions for 199 yards and no touchdowns.
Houston also needs to put extreme focus on tight end Eric Ebron, as he’s caught two touchdowns against them this season. In December, Ebron caught four passes for 65 yards, and in September, he caught five passes for 40 yards.
Houston really needs to come out and be ready to play, and not only that, force the Colts to run the football with Marlon Mack and take their chances in forcing Mark to beat their front seven and not allow Luck to get hot and take over the game. In December, Mack had 33 yards rushing and one touchdown against Houston on 14 carries, but that low number is most likely due to all the passes made by Luck in that game.
Again, the secondary needs to take over this game and force the Colts to get into tough situations, taking them out of their strong passing game. If that can happen, Houston can advance to the Divisional Round, but it isn’t going to be an easy task this Saturday.