I had a blast coming up with some facts and stats for last week's game against the Chiefs in my daily brew. So, let's do it again. Amaze and astound your friends and family with some interesting nuggets about this matchup with the Colts.
The all-time series swings heavily in the Colts favor, but over the last eight regular season games, the two teams each have four wins.
Ironically, in those eight games, each team has only won once in its own building. The Texans have won in Lucas Oil Stadium in 2015, 2016 and 2018 and at home in 2016. The Colts won in NRG Stadium in 2015, 2017 and 2018 and at home in 2017.
This will only be the second regular season game that receiver Will Fuller V has played the Colts with Deshaun Watson at the helm. And, in that game in 2018, he only played the first half. So, if Fuller V plays the full game, it'll be the first time since Week 8 of the 2017 season that he faced the Colts for a full 60 minutes. Fuller V missed full games in 2016 and 2018 and only played a half in 2017 and 2018. It's a severe understatement to say that he's EXTREMELY valuable to this matchup on Sunday.
The Texans controlled the ball for one of the longest time of possessions of any opponent in the history of Arrowhead Stadium last week. The nearly 40 minutes of time of possession was instrumental in the Texans win at Kansas City and was the second highest in the NFL this year. The Texans 39:48 was just 19 seconds behind Baltimore's 40:07 in the opener against Miami.
One week after the Texans yielded no sacks to the Chiefs, Kansas City's defense racked up NINE against the Broncos on Thursday night football.
The Texans lost the turnover battle last week to the Chiefs and still won the game. The Texans fumbled once and had two interceptions, while producing a sack/fumble and an interception.
In 15 games against the Texans, Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton has 81 catches for 1,530 yards and nine touchdowns. Ouch.
With Roderick Johnson more than likely starting at right tackle for injured rookie Tytus Howard, the Texans will start their fifth different combination on the offensive line this season (in seven games).
On the other hand, the Colts starting five offensive linemen have started together 14 times since Week 6 of last season. That's 14 weeks of continuity for left tackle Anthony Castonzo, left guard Quenton Nelson, center Ryan Kelly, right guard Mark Glowinski and right tackle Braden Smith.
Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett is 3-0 as a starting quarterback against the Texans. Replacing Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo in 2016, he led the Patriots to a 27-0 win on Thursday night football in 2016. Then, after being traded to the Colts in 2017, he led the Colts to two wins over the Texans in 2017. This will be his first start against the Texans since Week 17 in 2017, a 22-13 win over Houston.
Currently, the Texans lead the NFL in third-down conversion percentage, converting at a 51.4 percent clip (38 of 74). Ironically, on the Texans go-ahead drive in Kansas City in the fourth quarter, they didn't convert one third down. Why? Because on that 12-play drive, they never faced a third down, having converted on first or second down the entire drive.
Punter Bryan Anger has punted in the NFL for nine years. Last week was the first time in his career in which he did not punt in a game. In fact, he hasn't punted since the first drive of the win over Atlanta in Week 5. That won't happen again this week, but I'd love to see it, honestly.
Although the Texans receivers didn't have a catch longer than 23 yards against the Chiefs, the Texans are second in the league with 30+ yard receptions with 14. The only team with more is the Kansas City Chiefs with 18. The Chiefs only generated two catches of 30+ yards and they both came on the first drive of the game.
Neither the Colts nor the Texans have allowed a sack in the last two ball games. The Colts kept the Raiders and Chiefs without a sack, while the Texans held the Falcons and Chiefs sackless. By the way, that two game streak is the highest active streak in the NFL.
Texans vs. Colts is the matchup I dread, hate, love, enjoy and stress about more than any other all year long. Can't wait because it's now here! Enjoy the game everyone.
