Houston Texans must stop Jacoby Brissett on Thursday Night Football

The Houston Texans have struggled more than they’ve had success against the Indianapolis Colts in their history, so to win on Thursday Night Football they must stop Jacoby Brissett.

It is very simple or both the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts, and that is this is the biggest game of the season for the two teams, with first place on the line on the Week 12 edition of Thursday Night Football.

The Texans and Colts are both 6-4 overall entering the Thursday Night Football game, and in their past six meetings (2017-19) the Texans are 1-5 overall. Against the Colts when Brissett is the quarterback, Houston is 0-3 with two losses in ’17 and a loss earlier this season.

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All three games against Brissett when he’s the starting quarterback of the Colts have been very close outcomes, with all the losses by the Texans being by seven or fewer points. Even when Brissett made a start against the Texans while with the New England Patriots in 2016, he won that stat as well.

While a member of the Patriots in ’16 in a Week 3 game (Sept. 22, 2016), Brissett was 11-of-19 for 103 yards with no touchdown or interceptions. Brissett was sacked once, and in the same game he also rushed eight times for 48 yards and one touchdown in what was a 27-0 defeat of the Texans.

Then there are the three games against the Colts from ’17 and ’19 as Brissett seems to have the number of the Texans.

Earlier this season, Brissett was 26-of-39 for 326 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions against the Texans. He also had five rushes for six yards with one fumble and was sacked once on Oct. 20 in Week 7 defeat of the Texans by a 30-23 score.

In 2017 against the Texans, Brissett on Nov. 5 in a Week 9 game was 20-of-30 for for 308 yards with two touchdown passes , but was sacked three times. He also had two rushes for 12 yards and had a fumble. The Colts won this meeting in Houston by a 20-14 score.

The second meeting in ’17 between the Texans and Colts in Week 17 (Dec. 31, 2017), the Colts defeated the Texans 22-13. In that game, Brissett finished 15-of-25 for 114 yards with one touchdown pass, no interceptions and was sacked just once. The Colts quarterback also carried the ball five times for 18 yards.

In tonight’s Week 12 meeting — which is the final regular-season game between the two teams this season — the Texans must find a way to slow down and stop Brissett and force the running game of the Texans to beat them. That is easier said than done, but if Brissett gets hot against the inconsistent and oft-injured secondary and defense of the Texans, it could be another long night for the Texans.

On the Texans Wednesday injury report, defensive players listed included the following listed on the Texans PR Twitter account including secondary members safety Mike Adams, cornerback Lonnie Johnson Jr. and safety Justin Reid all listed as out.

Houston is coming off the worst loss of the season in Week 11 as the Baltimore Ravens routed the Texans, 41-7 in an forgettable performance by Houston. The Colts won in Week 11 against the Jacksonville by a 33-13.

In comments made this week in a conference call (comments provided by the Texans Media Department), Colts head coach Frank Reich spoke about Brissett and his Week 11 performance against the Jaguars:

"“Well there’s no doubt he played a really good football game. I don’t know where it would – I think he’s played a bunch of good games this year, but he made some critical plays … Obviously he makes an incredible play on a fourth-and-goal from the one that probably only a handful of guys make the way he avoided and kept his balance and extended the play. So, there were some big-time plays he made in that game for sure.”"

That is going to be the issue for the Texans defense on Thursday night — not letting Brissett take over the game, and not letting him make big plays that came become game-changing. That type of scenario happened this past Sunday in the loss to the Ravens when Lamar Jackson dominated the Houston defense.

On short rest, this game for the Texans is coming at an inopportune time, but if they want to have any momentum moving forward, Houston must stop Brissett in Week 12 and force the Colts to look elsewhere in their pursuit to defeat the Texans.