Colts go for sweep of Texans with eyes on AFC South lead
HOUSTON (4-9) at INDIANAPOLIS (9-4)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
OPENING LINE - Colts by 6 1/2
RECORD VS. SPREAD - Texans 4-9; Colts 8-5
SERIES RECORD - Colts lead 29-9
LAST MEETING - Colts beat Texans 26-20 on Dec. 6 at Houston
LAST WEEK - Texans lost to Bears 36-7; Colts beat Raiders 44-27
AP PRO32 RANKING - Texans No. 28, Colts No. 8
TEXANS OFFENSE - OVERALL (18), RUSH (32), PASS (5).
TEXANS DEFENSE - OVERALL (31), RUSH (31), PASS (24).
COLTS OFFENSE - OVERALL (9), RUSH (15), PASS (8).
COLTSDEFENSE - OVERALL (6), RUSH (5), PASS (3).
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Houston has lost two straight overall and four of the last five in this series. ... Sunday marks the second time in three weeks these division rivals have squared off. ... Texans QB Deshaun Watson needs 239 yards passing for his second 4,000-yard season. He also has 25 TD passes, one short of his single-season career high. ... With a win, Watson would tie Matt Schaub's franchise record for most victories over Indianapolis (3). ... Houston WR Keke Coutee had eight receptions and a career-best 141 yards against Indy earlier this month. All three of Coutee's 100-yard games have come against the Colts. ... Three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt has 13 games with two or more passes defensed, one game short of Jason Taylor's league record for a lineman. .. LB Zach Cunningham leads the NFL in tackles with 126. .. LB Tyrell Adams needs six tackles to become the sixth player in Texans history with 100 in a single season. ... Indy is tied for the AFC South lead with Tennessee but the Titans hold the tiebreaker based on current division records ... The Colts have won two straight and six of their last eight overall. ... QB Philip Rivers has 417 career TD passes and needs three to tie Hall of Famer Dan Marino for fifth. Rivers also is expected to make his 238th career start, tying Tony Gonzalez for No. 8 on the league's all-time list. ... WR T.Y. Hilton has touchdown catches each of the past two weeks and needs one more TD to move past Jimmy Orr (50). He would also tie Marshall Faulk for No. 8 on the Colts' touchdown list. Hilton begins Sunday's game with 598 receptions. ... DE Justin Houston had three sacks in the last matchup with the Texans and three more would give him 100 in his career. Houston's safety two weeks ago also was the fourth of his career, tying the league record. ... Pro Bowl LB Darius Leonard is three tackles away from becoming the first Colts player with 100 in each of his first three NFL seasons. ... If K Rodrigo Blankenship makes two extra points, he will break Jim O'Brien's franchise record for a rookie (36). Blankenship is also three field goals away from tying the Colts' rookie record (Raul Allegre, 30). ... Fantasy tip: The Texans have the league's second-worst run defense. Colts coach Frank Reich stresses the run. So, with rookie Jonathan Taylor seeking a fourth consecutive 90-yard game, Taylor looks like a pretty good play.
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