Houston Texans: Three must win games to secure a first round playoff bye

Week 14: Texans vs. Colts in Houston

Don’t look now, but the Colts may finally be back as a contender. They’ve spent the past two of the past three years in NFL purgatory while they were dealing with Andrew Luck‘s injuries. Even in 2016, Luck wasn’t at his best and neither were the Colts.

Since all of that went down, they’ve finally decided to give their franchise quarterback the protection he needs and deserves. Anthony Castonzo is an anchor at the left tackle position, Quenton Nelson is the best guard in football as a rookie, while the rest of the offensive line is pretty solid as well. This unit has developed into one of the best in football this season.

This excellent protection has allowed Luck to return to dominance. He has been a top-five quarterback so far this season and as he’s elevated his game, the Colts have gone streaking. They have ripped off five wins in a row to rise from last place in the AFC South to the Houston Texans biggest threat for the division title.

The Colts defense has also been surprisingly effective this year after being pretty bad since Dwight Freeney was ousted from Indianapolis. Their defense is led by one of the best rookies to take the field this season in the unheralded Darius Leonard at linebacker.

However, in spite of the streak they’ve gone on and as good they’ve looked, this Colts team does have some flaws the Texans can exploit. In three of their past five games, the Colts have given up 24+ points. So, Bill O’Brien is going to need to call a strong game, Watson is going to need to be effective and efficient, and the running game is going to need to stay hot.

As the Colts defense has struggled some, the Texans defense has been surging and dominant. Over the past seven games, the Texans have only allowed more than twenty points twice. Fortunately, the Texans are getting healthy at the perfect time to shut an offense, like the Colts’, down.

Houston is going to need all of their corners healthy and both Zach Cunningham and Dylan Cole healthy to slow down T.Y. Hilton, Eric Ebron, and the rest of the Colts receiving weapons down. Marlon Mack isn’t just a chump out of the backfield either so the Texans won’t just be able to key off on the run.

The biggest and greatest key to defeating the Colts will be getting past that stellar offensive line and putting pressure on Luck. Luck is significantly worse against pressure than he when well protected. If they can hit him a few times early in the game, he’ll have to keep his head on a swivel the rest of the game. If they can slow him down, the AFC South will officially be locked up with three weeks left in the season.