The Indianapolis Colts are back on the road in Week 8, taking on the Houston Texans for what will already be the second and final regular season matchup between these two teams this season.
In the grand scheme of the AFC South playoff race, this game comes with major implications. In short, this is as close to a must-win as you can get at the mid-way point of the season.
As always, in a nuanced game like football, there will be a number of factors that go into determining Sunday’s outcome, but the answers to these three questions on the offensive side of the ball will certainly carry some weight when it comes to how things unfold.
For the three big questions facing the Colts’ defense in this game, click here.
How does Colts’ OL hold up against Houston pass rush?
The Texans will enter Week 8 with one of the more disruptive pass rushes in the NFL, ranking fourth in ESPN’s pass rush win rate, 10th in pressure rate, and fourth in sacks. Leading the way for this unit are edge rushers Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter, both of whom rank in the to 10 of their position group in pressures.
For the Colts, however, they will enter this game with one of the best offensive line units in football. By PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric, the Colts rank second. Quarterbacks Anthony Richardson and Joe Flacco have been under pressure on a combined 27.8 percent of their dropbacks, which is the third-lowest mark this season.
The last time these two teams met, Richardson was pressured on only 25 percent of his dropbacks with Anderson and Hunter combining for just three pressures.
On those passing plays, providing Richardson with time so he can throw in rhythm and within the structure of the play call will be a must.
Can the passing game get things going on the short to intermediate routes?
The last time these two teams met, it was a very boom-or-bust game for the Colts’ offense. To a lesser extent, that has been the case throughout the season for this unit.
Richardson would average a hefty 11.2 yards per attempt with multiple 50-plus yard completions. However, he completed only 9-of-19 passes. The Colts either scored quick off a big play or had a short possession that ended with a punt–and there wasn’t much in between.
The result of this, coupled with the defense’s struggles to contain Joe Mixon, led to a very lopsided time of possession battle, with Houston holding the ball for 20 more minutes than what the Colts did. This led to a huge discrepancy in the number of plays ran, with Houston totaling 76 offensive plays compared to the Colts 43.
To combat this the second time around, Richardson and the offense has to get the short to intermediate passing game going. Having Josh Downs available for this matchup will certainly help and finding more success in the run game will help sustain drives as well.
Generating explosive plays is great and the Colts have been one of the best at it, but it’s a tough way to live when that’s an offense’s primary way of moving the ball.
Will Jonathan Taylor play?
We will obviously have this answer before kickoff, but whether Taylor plays or not will have a huge impact on this game. After missing the last three weeks, Taylor returned to practice on Wednesday and would practice all three days this week, which includes being a full participant on Thursday.
Before missing time, Taylor was one of the more productive running backs in football through four games and among the best in creating explosive runs. Without Taylor, however, the Colts run game has struggled to find consistency–although the return of Richardson last week did help.
The combination of Taylor and Richardson in the backfield can be a real stressor for defenses. Success in the run game leads to short and down and distance situations, keeping the offense ahead of the sticks and opening up the passing game through play-action and RPOs.