Texans Colts Line

Written by Steve Janus

This Thursday the Houston Texans will go on the road to face the Indianapolis Colts in week 15 of the NFL. Coming into the season many believed this AFC South showdown would possibly decide who won the division. That simply isn’t the case. Houston has already locked up the division, despite getting upset at Carolina last week. The Colts stunned the Titans 27-13 for their first win of the season. Houston opened up the season with a 34=7 win at home over the Colts, but have never won a game at Indianapolis (0-9). They figure to have a pretty good shot at ending the trend this week.

Taking a look at the week 16 NFL spreads, oddsmakers currently have the Texans favored by 5.5-points over the Colts with the total set at 40 points.

Houston Texans:

The Texans loss to the Panthers last week might end up costing them a first round bye in the playoffs. Houston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and New England all came into the week at 10-3, but only the Patriots were able to come away with a win. The Texans went from being the No. 1 seed to the No. 3 seed. Either way they are going to host a playoff game, and the most important thing for this team is making sure they don’t lose any more key players to injury.

In their last game against the Panthers, rookie quarterback T.J. Yates completed 19 of 30 attempts for 212 yards, but finished the game with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Overall is just wasn’t a good game for the Yates, but he will have a good opportunity to bounce back against the Colts. Indianapolis ranks 24th against the pass, allowing 246.4 ypg. One thing that could keep Yates from having a huge game, is the fact that star wide out Andre Johnson isn’t expected to play.

Arian Foster provided nearly all the offense for the Texans in the loss. Foster not only rushed for a team-high 109 yards, he led the the team with five catches for 58 yards. He provided the Texans with their only touchdown on a 1-yard run. Foster and backup Ben Tate both figure to be in for a huge game against the Colts. Indianapolis is 28th in the league against the run, giving up 138.7 ypg. The first time these two teams played the Texans were without Foster, and still rushed for 167 yards behind a 116 yards from Tate.

Indianapolis Colts:

The Colts 27-13 win over the Titans might not seem all that important to the average fan, but no player wants to be apart of a team that doesn’t win a single game. Indianapolis has fought all season long to get that one win, and now you have to wonder how excited they are going to be to come out and face a playoff team this week.

Over the years it has been all about the passing game with Peyton Manning and company, but it was the ground game that got the Colts their first win of the season. Donald Brown rushed for a career-high 161 yards, that was capped off by a 80-yard touchdown that put the Colts up for good in the 4th quarter. Indianapolis finished with 206 yards on the ground, averaging 6.0 yards per carry.

Dan Orlovsky went an efficient 11 for 17 for 82 yards, including a 18-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne. Not only did the Colts end their losing streak, It was Orlovsky’s first career win as a starter. He was a dismal 0-9 coming into the game.

The Texans didn’t play great defensively last week, but they still held the Panthers to 316 yards of total offense. They come into the game ranked 2nd against the pass (181.1 ypg) and 5th against the run (96.8 ypg). The first time they faced the Colts they held Indianapolis to 236 total yards. The Colts ground game managed just 64 yards in that game. Houston could be without defensive coordinator Wade Philips, but I don’t know that it will matter all that much.

Betting Trends:

Houston is 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games after scoring less than 15 points in their previous game.

Indianapolis is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog of 3.5-10.0.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this week in the NFL.

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