The Houston Texans have never had the greatest luck in the world against the Indianapolis Colts, and that has us very worried about their prospects of having any success in what might be a make-or-break game.
COLTS OBVIOUS CHOICE TO SCORE FIRST
Last year in this very same game, one which was also played on a Thursday night here in Houston in Week 6 instead of Week 5, the Colts raced out to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter. To the Texans' credit, from that point on, they were easily the better of the two teams, and they had a real chance to win the game. They also had a legit chance of winning for the first time ever in Indianapolis at the tail end of the season but fell just short.
The Houston offense hasn't scored hasn't scored a first quarter point against the Colts in three straight games in this series, and the fact of the matter is that the defense and special teams have done almost as much scoring in games overall against Indy than the offense has.
It's also obvious that there is a massive disparity between these two starting quarterbacks. Houston hasn't scored on its opening drive in any of its four games this year, and it has just one first quarter touchdown as well. Ryan Mallett hasn't exactly been stellar, and he has to be looking over his shoulder at Brian Hoyer after the latter came off of the bench and led the team on three touchdown drives after he was abysmal in Atlanta.
Meanwhile, Andrew Luck is going to want to prove that he doesn't have any issues with his shoulder. We wouldn't be surprised to see him take some shots down the field against a weak Houston secondary early and often as he did last year in this game when T.Y. Hilton went off for over 200 yards.
And, for good measure, if you want to go one step farther and try to figure out who would score first if it came down to two kickers, Nick Novak is brand new to Houston and was out of a job until a week ago when Randy Bullock got cut, while Adam Vinetiari is a Hall of Famer, though it should be noted that he is only 3-for-5 on field goals.
Still, for our money, it is obvious which one of these teams should end up scoring first more often than not in this game, and that's much to the chagrin of the hometown crowd.
FIELD GOAL LIKELY TOP CHOICE FOR FIRST SCORING PLAY
Sure, we know there's a real possibility that Luck is looking for the home run on the first couple plays of the game, but the likelihood of that play or two going for a touchdown isn't likely. Instead, it's more likely that the Colts end up in field goal range and stalling, just as has been the problem all year long.
Houston's defensive line is strong enough with J.J. Watt leading the way to cause all sorts of havoc. One sack while the Colts are in the red zone will surely end a drive and force three points, while Indy's running game, even with Frank Gore now in the fold, hasn't been good near the goal line at all yet in 2015.
The Texans, if they do happen to score first, are going to have a really hard time scoring a touchdown. They have nine touchdowns against seven field goal attempts, and we should be perfectly clear that the reason they have this many touchdowns instead of field goals is because they have been playing from way behind in half of their games.
If you can get a field goal to be the first score of this game at anything better than +120 or so, it's the right play to make on Thursday Night Football.
BookMaker will open the spread for this Thursday soiree before anyone else in the market. Minute-by-minute NFL spreads, totals and props are available for this game using the live betting platform at BookMaker.
Load your betting bankroll from your smartphone or tablet with BookMaker’s new cashier feature! Depositing and withdrawing funds from your account has never been easier. BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! The game between the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans is scheduled for Thursday, October 8, 2015, at 8:30 p.m. ET at NRG Stadium. The game will be broadcast regionally on CBS and the NFL Network.
