On Thursday, Nov. 21, the Indianapolis Colts will travel to Houston, Tex., to face the Texans at NRG Stadium for Thursday Night Football. The Colts lead the all-time series 27-8 and have won the last two games, including a Week 7 matchup in Indianapolis when the Colts defeated the Texans, 30-23. Both teams come into this game at 6-4 with Houston reeling from their 41-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens last week while the Colts were victorious over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Not only is Houston looking for redemption from the stomping they took in Baltimore, but they are looking for redemption from the Week 7 meeting and are highly favored to win the game with a 65.4 percent win probability.
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts come into Week 12 with an average of 343.8 offensive yards per week. Jacoby Brissett has completed 168 of 260 passes for 1,797 yards, 15 touchdowns, and four interceptions for a 97.5 rating. Marlon Mack leads the Colts in rushing yards with 192 carries for 862 yards and four touchdowns, but he’ll be inactive this week with a hand injury. T.Y. Hilton has posted 32 receptions for 360 yards and five touchdowns for the season. Justin Houston leads the Colts with eight sacks and Darius Leonard leads with two interceptions. Kicker Adam Vinatieri has connected on 18 of 24 extra points and successfully kicked 15 of 20 field goal attempts.
Offense
Brissett passed for 326 yards and four touchdowns with zero interceptions for a career-high 126.7 rating in the Week 7 meeting between the teams. He holds a 4-0 record with seven passing and one rushing touchdown plus zero interceptions for a 107.2 rating in four starts against Houston. He has recorded a 95 or greater rating in his last two of three divisional games.
Running back Jonathan Williams recorded a career-high 147 scrimmage yards and his first career game with 100 or more rush yards against the Jaguars last week.
In the Week 7 meeting, Hilton posted 74 receiving yards and a touchdown against Houston and is going for this third game in a row against Houston in which he posts 175 or more receiving yards. In his seven career games versus Houston, Hilton has posted a total of 933 receiving yards and seven touchdown catches.
Zach Pascal recorded 106 receiving yards and two touchdown catches in the last matchup and is going for his fourth game in a row against Houston with a touchdown catch. Marcus Johnson posted his second career touchdown last week and has a receiving touchdown in his last two of three games.
Tight end Eric Ebron is going for his fifth game in a row against Houston with a touchdown catch. He posted 70 receiving yards and a touchdown in the Week 7 meeting.
Defense
Linebacker Darius Leonard is aiming for his fourth game in a row against the Texans with one or more tackles. He posted 10 tackles and an interception in the Week 7 meeting.
Defensive end Justin Houston posted a sack last week against Jacksonville and is going for his seventh game in a row with at least one sack.
Cornerback Kenny Moore led the team with nine tackles, a sack a pass deflection last week and is going for his third game in a row against Houston with at least one sack.
Rookie Rock Ya-Sin posted six tackles, a tackle for loss, and his first career interception last week, while Marvell Tell, another rookie, recorded career-highs in tackles and pass deflections against the Jaguars and is going for his fourth game in a row with at least one pass deflection.
Houston Texans
Houston has put up an average of 380.2 offensive yards per game with Deshaun Watson at the helm. Watson has thrown 230 of 331 complete passes for 2,601 yards, 18 touchdowns and six interceptions and a rating of 103.3. Carlos Hyde leads the Texans in rushing yards with 158 carries for 769 yards and four touchdowns, while DeAndre Hopkins leads with 75 receptions for 745 yards and four touchdowns as well. Whitney Mercilus has led the team all season in sacks and stands at five-and-a-half sacks coming into this week. Meanwhile, Tashaun Gipson has posted two interceptions this season. Ka’imi Fairbairn has hit 24 of 29 extra points and 13 of 18 field goal attempts.
Offense
Watson, the team’s explosive quarterback, has 19 touchdowns and just two interceptions for a 121 rating in his six career primetime games and has recorded a rating of 95 or greater in the last two of three games against the Colts. Watson is going for his third game in a row at home with three or more touchdown passes and a 115-plus rating.
Running back Carlos Hyde posted 65 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown last week against Baltimore and has recorded 90 or more scrimmage yards in the last two of three divisional games. Duke Johnson posted 56 scrimmage yards in the Week 7 matchup and is one of two running backs with 250 or more catches and 10 or more receiving touchdowns in the last four years.
Wide receiver Deandre Hopkins recorded seven receptions for 80 receiving yards last week and became the youngest player to reach 600 catches in the league history. In the Week 7 meeting, Hopkins had nine catches for 106 yards and a touchdown catch and has 397 receiving yards and four touchdown catches in the last four games against the Colts, hoping to make Thursday the fifth in a row versus Indianapolis with a touchdown catch.
Kenny Stills had 105 receiving yards in the Week 7 game, and tight end Darren Fells is tied for the most touchdowns by a tight end in the league so far this year. Fells is going for his third game in a row at home with at least two or more receiving touchdowns.
Defense
Linebacker Zach Cunningham had the team-high 10 tackles last week against the Ravens; that was his ninth career game with 10 or more tackles. Benardrick McKinney had eight tackles in Week 11 and also posted two tackles for a loss in the Week 7 matchup.
Whitney Mercilus leads the team in sacks and also leads the team with 12 tackles for loss on the season. Brennan Scarlet posted seven tackles and a sack last week and is going for his third game in a row with a sack.
Safety Justin Reid has eight or more tackles in his last two of three games at home and Tashaun Gipson has posted two interceptions and four pass deflections for the season.
The game will air on Thursday night at 8:20 p.m. EST on FOX.
That's what we call getting to the QUARTERback. 😎
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) November 18, 2019
#Texans LIVE » Deshaun Watson meets the media. https://t.co/jega5Vi9cb
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 19, 2019
