Inter-divisional Wild Card clash pits two Super Bowl dark horses against each other

The Houston Texans will welcome a familiar foe to NRG Stadium on Saturday for their Wild Card clash when they host the Indianapolis Colts. The pair split their regular season meetings with Houston winning 37-34 in overtime in week four to give them their first win on the season. The Colts then extracted revenge in week 14 when they beat the Texans on the road 24-21.

After starting 1-5 and seeing their postseason hopes hanging by a thread, first year Head Coach Frank Reich along with superstar quarterback Andrew Luck led the Colts to a 9-1 record after their disastrous start and forced their way into the playoffs in a week 17 ‘win and in’ clash with the Tennessee Titans.

Reich does have injury concerns as wide receiver T.Y. Hilton is battling an ankle issue (he is expected to play) and safety Malik Hooker has been battling a hip issue but he is also expected to play on Saturday.

Hilton has been the fulcrum of the Colts passing attack with the seventh year wide out posting another year of impressive numbers. Hilton finished the regular season with 1,270 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 14 starts with five games over 100 yards through the air. The speedy pass catcher has games of 115 yards and 199 yards in the two meetings with Houston and is poised for another monster day against a struggling Texans secondary.

Tight End Eric Ebron has turned his career around in Indianapolis after being declared a bust by the Detroit Lions. The former tenth overall pick has 750 yards but, more importantly, has 13 touchdowns as a result of him being a match-up nightmare for defenses. The fifth year pro had a touchdown in each of the two game against Houston.

Reich also has two rookie All-Pros on his roster entering the clash in guard Quenton Nelson and linebacker Darius Leonard. The pair have elevated a once depleted roster to one of the best in the NFL.

Houston endured an equally poor start as their AFC South counterparts as they opened up their season 0-3 before ripping off nine straight wins. They did close the season 2-2 however with losses against the Colts and at the Philadelphia Eagles.

After a shaky start to his season in which he threw at least one interception in the first six games of the season, quarterback Deshaun Watson has only thrown two picks in his last ten outings. The Houston passer has been sacked 62 times which will be of great concern for Head Coach Bill O’Brien who admitted his young QB can’t continue to take the punishment he has thus far.

Star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins finished his season with 1,572 receiving yards and 11 scores while remarkably having no drops on the season. The dynamic duo of Hopkins and Watson has carried Houston to a lot of wins this campaign and they may be called upon to do it once again.

While the secondary is a cause for concern for Houston their front seven is not. J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney have teamed up for 25 sacks with a healthy contribution from other members of the defensive unit. Andrew Luck has only been sacked 18 times all season, but six of those have come in the two games against the Texans proving that they can win against one of the best offensive lines in the NFL.

Both fixtures in the regular season were one score games and with the way both teams are built it would be folly to expect nothing else in their third meeting of the season.