Official Texans vs. Colts Game Thread, 10/8/2015
 

WMH and/or Arky - Please work your magic on this thread. I just couldn't think of a better place to put this info and it seemed appropriate in the game day thread...

http://indysportscentral.com/2015/10...ted-3-doctors/

Link says Luck's status for TNF is uncertain, which is definitely different than what was reported this weekend in that they were sitting Luck to give him a week of rest so he could play TNF on a short week.

Meanwhile Shorts 3.0 is out indefinitely and Kareem has a concussion. Maybe they'll finally let the third rounder they traded up to get put on a uniform.

Interesting, especially since they only carry 2 QB's and cut their #2 from last week. I'd guess we'll see Luck, but I guess they could always resign the guy on Wednesday if Luck's prognosis doesn't look so grand. Not like there's a line for his services.

Our WR group is going to be VERY young come Thursday, assuming they won't be able to pick a guy up off the street to be active for a short weeks game.

No problem. I usually wait till Wednesday when the TV maps come out to add my two cents but anytime anyone wants to start the discussion is fine by me....

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Heard on the radio OB said Mallett will get the start vs. Colts.....

@AaronWilson_NFL Kareem Jackson no longer in NFL concussion testing protocol has been cleared, won't be on injury report

I'm surprised to hear Mallett would start. I'm yo-yoing between Hoyer and Mallett. Do I want the guy with no zip on his fastball or the guy with no on aim his fastball?

They're both incredibly flawed. Not sure either can solely win or lose a game. If the balance of the team doesn't improve we're screwed either way and coming into a draft with just a couple of top tier QB'S.

Based on players currently rostered, whomever plays QB is moot if this team is down 21-0 barely into the 2nd quarter like they were against the Falcons. This is simply not a high-powered offense.

Shifting away from the QB convo momentarily, the Texans are likely to be missing both Shorts and Washington, which should mean that Strong is active on Thursday.

I think this team really needs Strong to step up in a big way, and not just because these others are hurt. The Texans need a big WR who isn't going to be bumped around. For as great a prospect Hop is, and I like his hands a ton, he isn't the kind of receiver who can impose his will on the field. Hop needs a bigger guy like Strong. He kinda had that in Angry Dre last year (that is, when Andre was interested in playing/putting forth effort in his final season with the Texans).

Ugh, that was hard to type.

Bottom line, I hope Strong emerges from the doghouse and BOB/Godsey get him involved early in the gameplan. I like Mumph ok - he hasn't quite achieved Keyshawn Martin-level disgust from me yet - and Chandler Worthy is not yet worthy of being active, but the team took Strong earlier because he is the bigger, better WR prospect. He is the one the team needs to replace Andre in the offense. For Strong's sake, hopefully he takes over Washington's spot in this game with some authority.

I thought Mumphrey was one of the few bright spots yesterday.... IIRC, he made a difficult catch on 3rd down to get the 1st down and then he caught a pass over the middle and punished the DB that came to tackle him.... I was glad to see that since the Falcon DB's were practically doing the prison thing to our wide receivers and not getting called for it....

Video: Texans vs. Colts preview

Video summary: Luck will probably play, Colts probably favored by about 4, Texans might be good value....

I always find it interesting to hear the objective opinions of non-fans, i.e. outsiders not involved in the media....

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Texans win and they are tied for 1st.

If the Texans lose this one, it's gonna be a long year... History shows that a team can overcome an early season blowout (Atlanta), turn it around and end up having a good year but I'm not sure the Texans can do this... Take the seemingly talented defense - has the coaching staff turned them into dysfunctional glob of poo? Have they had too much put on their plate or been given too much to process (i.e. KJ at Safety)? I dunno, but the time to get it together would be right now.....

Were we better off with Kirpatrick ? And the defense, if its also regressed why ? Don't we have basically the same defensive personnel this year as we had in 2014 ?

Adam Wexler ‏@awexler 6m6 minutes ago
Adam Wexler Retweeted Chester M. Pitts II
Luck is the only QB worse than Mallett in passer rating. Mallett: 65.3 (33rd), Luck: 65.1 (34th-last)

I remember the hit Mumphrey took and the flag came out. He gave out more than he got and I said to those around me, given the way the refs were killing us "What do you bet they'll flag us for hitting the defenseless defender?" Instead, they just picked up the flag.

This was the same crew that worked the Chiefs game where we similarly screwed on seemingly every call. We aren't a good enough team to win when two teams are against us. Granted, they made a lot of bad plays all on their very own but it seemed every good play was greeted with some ticky tack foul to negate the results,

That's why I say if the NFL were serious about punishing the Patriots, all they have to do is assign the same crew that works the Texans games and negates every positive play. Watch every catch by Gronk negated by some holding or hand-to-the-face bs. That'll fix them.

Last year the Texans led the league with 34 takeaways. So far this year they're tied for last place with two. Fewer takeaways means fewer short fields for an offense that needs all the help that it can get.

Not sure to what the big difference should be attributed. From a personnel standpoint, Pickett, Powe, Reed, Mohamed, Swearinger, K. Lewis, and Manning are gone and Wilfork, Covington, Clowney, McKinney, Demps, Moore, and K. Johnson have been added.

And looks like that's what they have done.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS MAKE ROSTER MOVES
Posted by coltsindianapolis on October 7, 2015 – 10:56 am

The Indianapolis Colts today signed free agent quarterback Josh Johnson and placed cornerback Jalil Brown on the Injured Reserve list.

Hmmmmm.....

Truth, or cat and mouse?

Ed Werder ‏@Edwerderespn 2m2 minutes ago
#Colts still expect Andrew Luck to start vs #Texans. Re-signed Josh Johnson because backup Matt Hasselbeck has been sick.

Zak Keefer ‏@zkeefer 10m10 minutes ago
Andrew Luck officially questionable for Thursday's game, along with Anderson, Davis, Hasselbeck, Adams. Jerrell Freeman ruled out.

#Texans OUT Thu vs Colts: Demps, Dent, Grimes, Shorts, Washington.
QUEST: Ballentine, Mercilus, Polk

The 2-2 Indianapolis Colts pay a visit to NRG stadium Thursday night to take on the 1-3 Texans in an AFC South matchup. The Colts defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday 16-13 in overtime at home while an injured Andrew Luck sat the bench.

The Texans most recently lost 48-21 to the Atlanta Falcons in a road game.

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TV = CBS/NFLN, 7:25 pm CST, Thursday

Announcers = Jim Nantz, Phil Simms

The line = pending*

*I've seen it Texans by 1 and Colts by 1 in random places. The majority are waiting on Luck's official status...

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Sunday viewing in the Houston area:

CBS (early) = Buffalo @ Tennessee -- Andrew Catalon, Steve Beuerlein, Steve Tasker

FOX (early) = New Orleans @ Philadelphia -- Thom Brennaman, Charles Davis, Tony Siragusa

CBS (late) = New England @ Dallas -- Jim Nantz, Phil Simms

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Prime time:

SNF = San Francisco @ NY Giants, NBC

MNF = Pittsburgh @ San Diego, ESPN

Maybe our safeties contributed more than we realized last year. Or our ILB and CB just facing different competition. Still early i guess.

Probably our QB being sacked more than last year as well.

So takeways and sacks are two big indicators of success or failure.

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 23m23 minutes ago
Colts undecided which QB will play tonight; would not be a surprise if Matt Hasselbeck does, Andrew Luck doesn't.