Houston Texans rival Indianapolis Colts improve with Justin Houston signing

The Houston Texans’ path to a second consecutive AFC South title just got tougher with a free agent move made by the Indianapolis Colts.

The path to a repeat AFC South championship just got a lot tougher for the Houston Texans and quarterback Deshaun Watson as the Indianapolis Colts reached a free agent deal with edge rusher Justin Houston, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Houston is a solid outside linebacker who has played eight seasons in the NFL, and with his ninth year now affecting the Texans for at least two games a season when the Colts face the Texans, the reigning AFC South champions had better become more acclimated with the edge rusher who’s a four-time Pro Bowl selection and one-time Associated Press All-Pro selection.

The new Colts linebacker, Houston is coming off a season where in 12 games he totaled nine sacks and 12 QB hits, along with one interception, 37 tackles and five forced fumbles.

That isn’t the best of news for a Texans team that allowed 60-plus sacks this past season and lost two of three meetings — including the Wild Card game — to the Colts.

This signing just might affect how the Texans continue their free agency and may impact how they select players in the 2019 NFL Draft, but either way, the Texans do need to take notice of this signing.

The Colts are gaining a player who has 78.5 career sacks and 118 career QB Hits, not to mention 381 career tackles (317 solo).

The Colts defense had their way with Watson and the Texans offense last season, because they did total 15 sacks in the three games against each other with seven in the first meeting, followed by games of five and three sacks.

This signing directly affects the Texans in 2019, and like it or not, the Colts have improved and maybe have surpassed the Texans as they do have a slight advantage in what should be two strong meetings between the two franchises this upcoming season.

The Texans have free agent signings of their own and draft choices to make, meaning there is even less room for error for the Texans when it comes to adding players to their roster this offseason.