The Houston Texans take on the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
To get ready for the Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT matchup, Kevin Hickey from the Colts Wire helps preview the game.
Texans Wire: What’s it like being on the winning end of playing a team twice in three weeks?
Kevin Hickey: Pretty cool, I’d say. The Colts have been so shoddy in recent seasons that it’s nice to see them stringing together consistent wins. What’s nice is that these wins don’t feel like flukes like it did in 2019 when they started 5-2. This team is legit on both sides of the ball and while it still remains to be seen how far of a run they can go on in the playoffs, their ability to string together wins feels legit.
TW: Where do the Colts feel like they failed in the first matchup?
KH: In the same area they have failed for the majority of the season: the first half. Allowing 20 points in the first half typically downs a team pretty quickly, but it helps when that same defense plays like a completely different unit in the second half. The Texans saw first hand what those mid-game adjustments look like when they failed to score any points in the second half in Week 13. A depleted supporting cast for Deshaun Watson and a stellar game from DeForest Buckner helped, but the Colts have to make sure their defense can play two halves. They haven’t done that for the majority of the season and Philip Rivers has kept the offense humming, so it has worked out. But against a magician like Watson, they can’t fail in the first half again.
TW: How does this game factor into the Colts’ path to winning the division?
KH: Essentially, the Colts should get in if they win two of the next three games. Those matchups include the Texans, the Steelers in Week 16 and the Jaguars in Week 17. The Steelers game is a bit of toss up given how they’ve struggled recently but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Colts lose that one. So in order to stay alive in the playoff picture—they currently sit sixth—the Colts have to come away with a win. If they don’t, they run the risk of tying with a number of teams for the final wild-card spot, and the only team they hold a tiebreaker over is the Raiders.
TW: Did S Kenny Moore really intercept it from WR Brandin Cooks?
KH: Seeing as we still have no idea what constitutes as a catch, I’m gonna say yes. Having gone back and rewatching the play, there’s a telling sign in the body language that Cooks gives after the play is made. He makes no effort to show he believes he caught the ball and while that’s not always an indication, it’s enough for me to say, “Yeah, that’s probably an interception.”
Editor’s note: Cooks was concussed on that play, which explains why he wasn’t demonstrative that he caught the ball.
TW: Is Matt Eberflus a quality head coaching candidate?
KH: Absolutely. Whenever Eberflus moves on to be a head coach, there’s one thing that will suit him well. We’ve seen the story many times over where a smart X’s & O’s coach fails to have success because, while he’s a smart football guy, he fails to get his team to buy in. That won’t be a problem for Eberflus. Everywhere he has gone, he gets his unit to buy into playing maximum effort 100% of the time. He’s easy to work with and finds a nice mixture of being an approachable yet no-nonsense type of playing style. Whoever gets Eberflus will need to match him with an offensive play-caller, but in terms of leadership and getting a team to follow quickly, Eberflus excels.
TW: What is your prediction?
KH: The Colts should win this one again. It’s tough to sweep a team during the regular season, but the Colts are nearly fully healthy, and the Texans seem to be hanging by a thread. The loss of Justin Reid will allow Rivers to take more shots downfield, and this time the Colts will have starting left tackle Anthony Castonzo back. I still expect Watson to keep the Texans competitive with a solid first half before the Colts defense again smothers their way to a sizable lead. I have the Colts, 28-19.