Houston Texans (5-3) at Indianapolis Colts (7-0)
If the Houston Texans have any designs on winning the AFC South for the first time in franchise history, then they must do something on Sunday that they have never done: win in Indianapolis.
The Colts, who have won 16 regular-season games in a row, are 8.5-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.
In fact Houston is just 1-13 all-time against the Colts, although they led both games last year before letting Indy rally. But fortune seems to be smiling on Houston this week because Indy’s defense has been absolutely ravaged by injuries. It was learned on Friday that star Colts safety Bob Sanders will miss the remainder of the 2009 season with a torn biceps tendon.
After struggling to get on the field with a knee issue that lingered all offseason, Sanders had played in the Colts’ last two games but made just three tackles. He injured his arm in Sunday’s win over San Francisco. The Colts officially placed Sanders on injured reserve Friday afternoon. This is a huge hit for Indy, as Sanders is one of the five best defensive players in the league – 2007 Defensive Player of the Year – when healthy. But he’s rarely healthy, as he has played just 47 regular-season games since joining the league in 2004.
While Sanders’ injury is the biggest news, it’s far from the only one on the Indy defense. Starting cornerback Kelvin Hayden is expected to miss up to four weeks with a knee injury, fellow cornerback suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice this week and linebacker Tyjuan Hagler was lost for the year as well with a biceps injury. No team can overcome injuries like this.
This should bode well for a Houston offense that’s one of the best in the league behind Matt Schaub, who is tied for the league lead in TD passes and is top in passing yards. Indianapolis has given up a league-low 10 pass plays of 20 yards or more in 2009, while the Texans have 31 such completions this season. Still, Houston may try to run plenty (especially with Sanders out) with a committee of Steve Slaton, Ryan Moats and Chris Brown. The Texans are 18-2 over the past two seasons when they run 30 or more times. Houston has won three in a row and is 5-3 for the first time ever. It has never won four straight games. The team did lose a key player of its own this week when star tight end Owen Daniels was put on injured reserve with a knee injury.
Indy QB Peyton Manning is 7-0 at home against the Texans and has 20 touchdown passes and only two interceptions in those games. The Colts have scored 30 or more points in seven of their last eight games against the Texans (33.5 ppg average). Manning is 19 yards passing and four TD passes to become first player in league history with 40,000 yards and 300 TD passes in a decade.
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