The Houston Texans are on a four-game losing streak, but the Colts are a beatable team.
The Houston Texans’ only win so far this season was against a divisional opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars. This also applies to their next matchup against the Carson Wentz-led Indianapolis Colts squad.
Both teams march in with a 1-4 record and this game could be critical if either of these two teams wants a shot at a wildcard spot for the playoffs. They’re both tied for second place in the division, and that would be a three-way tie if Jacksonville could ever win a game this year (it’s not looking too good for that to happen).
The Texans and Colts also share the fact that they had very similar games this past week. Both teams led 22-9 and ended up losing. Both teams had their respective quarterbacks, Davis Mills and Carson Wentz played their best games of the season.
The parallels that run in this matchup are evident on both sides. Dare I say that these two teams are almost the same, with the only exception is that the Colts definitely have a better rushing defense and defensive leader with Darius Leonard?
Both teams have their struggles, but the Texans’ recent resurgence should provide hope and faith that they can steal a win from the Colts, who lead the all-time series with a 30-9 record over the Texans.
These three reasons will be why the Texans will move to sole possession of second place in the AFC South by late Sunday afternoon.
Rodrigo Blankenship and Colts kicking struggles will continue against the Houston Texans
If anyone watched the entire Monday Night Football matchup between the Ravens and Colts, it was evident that something was terribly wrong with the Colts kicking game. There was the situation before halftime where the Colts had RB Nyheim Hines as a holder, and their punter, Rigoberto Sanchez lined up to kick a field goal.
Indianapolis missed it but got another shot due to an offsides penalty from Baltimore. Then Blankenship trotted onto the field- even the MNF crew were wondering what happened, and if Blankenship pulled a Thurman Thomas and forgot his helmet.
It was reported by Frank Reich that Blankenship didn’t feel pain until warmups and that this may be an issue that doesn’t go away overnight. If this does cause Blankenship to miss time, the question will become what will the Colts do instead?
It seemed that not having an extra point kicker sent Colts head Coach Frank Reich into a mental tailspin. One could argue that the team wasn’t aggressive enough to go for two instead. Blankenship missed an extra point and had a field goal blocked.
This decision will be interesting to watch come Sunday. Even if the Colts do score, if the Texans can get a stop on the two-point conversions, they’ll have a fighter’s chance to pull out the win.
Davis Mills will feast on the practice squad-heavy Colts secondary
Another key factor in Indianapolis choking a lead on Monday night was the fact that their secondary got riddled with holes. By holes, I mean injuries. Some guys were just promoted from the practice squad playing in this game.
Once Xavier Rhodes went down with an injury, and Rock Ya-Sin was ruled out before the game, it forced a handful of backups into the game. The Ravens met no resistance when it came to passing the ball, hence why the comeback actually happened.
Davis Mills had the first 300-yard passing game of his career against the Patriots and the fact that the Houston Texans held a lead for once in a long time is something to build upon and have optimism that maybe Mills has started to turn the rookie corner.
With another good game plan, passing to set up the run should be the focus this week. The Colts stopped Baltimore’s 43-consecutive game streak of having at least 100 rushing yards for a reason. If Tim Kelly tries to run into that brick wall, not much is going to be gained unless the Texans are continuing their aerial attack.
This strategy will allow for a lot more time spent on the field, slowly wearing down the Colts defense. Let’s see how the Texans will attack on Sunday.
Frank Reich will be feeling the pressure against the Houston Texans
Yes, that’s exactly what it says. While it’s a sentence that hasn’t been uttered in over two years for Texans fans, the truth is that Reich may just be the newest NFL head coach on the hot seat. Think about this- a team that’s had two separate 10-win teams that went to the playoffs last season could be staring down the barrel of a 1-5 start.
That’s ultimately the same for David Culley, but it’s the first year of his tenure- so it’s not likely he gets fired (Unless a Steve Keim/ Steve Wilks thing happens here). If the game starts to go poorly, will the Colts fans in attendance start to boo their team?
This is the scenario that as a player you really enjoy- going into someone else’s house and letting their own downfall be a source for chaos and frustration. All the Texans have to do to win this game is continue to throw the ball and make sure David Culley has no more head-scratching decision
If the Texans can make this happen, then the avalanche will have already started and it’ll be impossible to stop- just like it was on Monday night. It’s tempting to want the team to not do well to improve draft position, but a divisional win against a team the Texans have rarely beaten would be a nice humble brag at the end of the year.