Thursday Night football brings one of the NFL’s premier teams to your living room, with just one problem. That team, the Indianapolis Colts, won’t be bringing along its best player; Andrew Luck.
Now, you’ll be forced to watch Matt Hasselbeck run for his life from J.J. Watt for a few hours while the Houston offense sputters behind whichever quarterback Bill O’Brien has decided to pull out of the Texas Roadhouse kitchen and suit up. I think it’s Ryan Mallett this week. Maybe. Scroll down to view the live blog or keep reading for some preview information.
Here’s your sportsbook info if you need it.
Texans (-5), Colts: -105, Texans: -115, 41 O/U (O: -110, U: -110), Money Line – Colts: +210, Texans: -210
Here’s some of the offensive and defensive info and my pick from my Thursday Night Match-Up.
Needless to say, Andrew Luck missing this game changes everything. Hasselbeck put up decent numbers in last Sunday’s overtime win over Jacksonville, completing 30-of-47 passes for 282 yards and a touchdown. Still, most of Hasselbeck’s completions were short stuff to tight end Coby Fleener and No. 3 wideout Donte Moncrief….
Ryan Mallett has a tenuous grip on the Texans’ starting quarterback job, but he should be helped out by the continued improvement of Alfred Blue int he backfield and the return of Arian Foster. At wide receiver the Texans have one of the best young pass-catchers in the game in DeAndre Hopkins who is already on pace for a 124-catch, 1,636, 12 touchdown season and I would argue they still aren’t getting him the ball enough….
Indianapolis can’t put together a pass rush and Robert Mathis seems like a shell of the player he was just two years ago. The Colts have five sacks as a team, total. They also can’t force turnovers, with just three interceptions on the season and not a single fumble recovery in four games….
Defensive end J.J. Watt has been his usual spectacular self, recording 24 tackles and four sacks to go with his four passes defended, but the rest of the team only has one sack. And that sack doesn’t even belong to Jadeveon Clowney, who should be breaking out this year after missing last season with an injury….
The pick: History and recent performance is not on their side, but I believe that J.J. Watt and the Houston defense will do enough to beat a Hasselbeck-led Colts team, but not the spread. Texans 16, Colts 13
And here’s a few highlights from Joshua Schwager’s calculated NFL line column.
I’d be taking the Colts in this one. The Colts historically have played very well against the Texans and look to be getting back their most important player in Andrew Luck. With Luck back at the helm, he should be able to pick apart a weak secondary that could have given up far more yards to the Falcons who took their foot off the accelerator. Very rarely does a quarterback change end in success and it seems that the Texans are in for a very long season with the quarterback play they’ve been getting thus far.
Win Percentage: Indianapolis Colts 51% | Houston Texans 49%
Calculated Line: Players Choice
The game is on CBS at 8:25 p.m. Watch it with me. I’ll make some jokes.
