If I seem a little edgy this week, if I appear to be cranky and a tad stressed out, it's because it's Colts Week.
No team gets my blood boiling like the franchise with the horseshoes on their helmets. It all started back at the RCA Dome in the early days. Peyton Manning and his merry band of pass-catchers would torch whoever came into the joint. For the expansion Texans, it was a house of horrors.
The building only held slightly over 56,000 but it was the loudest place in the league. Trust me on this. When the Colts were on D, you could not hear yourself think. When Manning was on offense, it was like a tennis match. It was like Tiger putting on the 18th at Pebble Beach. The fans were so well trained to shut up when Indy was on the attack. "Omaha!"
The Colts moved into their new haunt, Lucas Oil Stadium, in 2008. It's not quite the same home-field advantage but the fans still do their thing. And it's still hard to win there. The Texans have done it three times in the last six years. That's not bad at all but there's a long way to go to crack into the Colts' all-time record in the series.
Indy has a 30-9 advantage since these teams hooked up starting in 2002. Manning was 16-2 (gulp!). Houston got swept last year with turnovers biting them at the buzzer. And it doesn't seem to matter who the Colts QB is in this matchup.
Jacoby Brissett was 3-1 as a Colt vs. Houston. Phillip Rivers was 2-0. Matt Hasselbeck won a game in Houston in 2015 when he had Montezuma's Revenge (I'm not kidding. Look it up). Even Dan Orlovsky got one of the two Indy wins in 2011, beating Houston in a Thursday night showdown. Ouch.
Which brings us to Carson Wentz. Lost in the appearance of their 1-4 record and the fact that he missed camp and was hobbled by not one but two sprained ankles this season, Wentz is getting hot. He's thrown for 630 yards, four touchdowns and no picks in the last two games.
They also have a running game and a defense that looked really good at Baltimore until Lamar Jackson turned into a Marvel Superhero and willed the Ravens to a win.
Both teams are coming off painful losses that had some positives. David Mills had the best passing performance of any QB against New England this season. The defense is getting the ball away from the opponent. The Texans know that despite their struggles they are still 1-0 in the division and have a huge opportunity here.
Nothing is ever easy with Indy and don't expect that this time either. Yes, the Texans have won five of the last 11 regular season match-ups but they've all been close with two of the wins coming in overtime. Another big battle is on the docket and we're looking forward to the drama.
The next time you can see the Texans at NRG Stadium will be on October 31 as they host the Los Angeles Rams in Week 8. Kick off is set for noon CT. Click here for tickets.
Check out photos from the Houston Texans practice on Wednesday.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
An image from the Oct. 13, 2021 Houston Texans regular season practice.
