FRIDAY INJURY REPORT
HOUSTON TEXANS
–QUESTIONABLE: WR DeAndre Hopkins (thumb, ankle, hamstring), CB Kayvon Webster (achilles), CB Shareece Wright (shoulder)
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
–OUT: T Anthony Castonzo (hamstring), TE Jack Doyle (hip), T Joe Haeg (ankle), DT Hassan Ridgeway (calf), CB Quincy Wilson (concussion)
–QUESTIONABLE: S Clayton Geathers (knee), RB Marlon Mack (hamstring), LB Anthony Walker (groin)
PLAYER NOTES
–DE Margus Hunt is making the most of being a full-time starter for the first time in his six-year career. Hunt leads the NFL with eight tackles for loss. Three of those are sacks, which is worth noting when considering Hunt entered the season with just 2.5 career sacks. “If you have more than 50 to 60 plays a game, you tend to have a little bit more success with the snaps you get,” Hunt said. “I’m just trying to take advantage of every single opportunity out there.”
–LB Darius Leonard leads the league with 41 tackles and 30 solos. Leonard is also second to Hunt in the NFL with six tackles for loss. “He’s a very intelligent player,” defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus said of the second-round pick. “He has worked hard at his alignment, key, technique and then you sprinkle that with talent and playing hard and that’s what you get.”
–RB Jordan Wilkins leads the Colts with 120 yards rushing on 40 carries. In theory it’s supposed to be a backfield by committee, but the release of Christine Michael this week coupled with starter Marlon Mack dealing with injuries that sidelined him last Sunday means the rookie Wilkins might only have rookie Nyheim Hines to spell him this week. Hines has 44 yards rushing on 14 carries with one TD.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Colts WR T.Y. Hilton. He’s had monster games against the Texans. In 12 games against the Texans, he has 63 receptions for 1,131 yards and nine TDs. He caught five passes for 175 yards and two TDs in a win at Houston last year, a performance that earned the four-time Pro Bowl star AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. In 2014, he had nine catches for 223 yards and one TD. Because the Colts are moving Hilton around in the formation, both Texans cornerbacks Johnathan Joseph and Aaron Colvin are on the spot to not let him get free. Expect the Texans to bracket Hilton with a safety deep, but even that hasn’t worked in the past.
GAME PLAN: The Texans have watched film of the Colts’ loss to the Eagles and are sure to try the same defensive blueprint — get solid pressure up front by rushing four and drop seven back in coverage to defend against the big play. The Colts have typically accepted the check-down throws underneath and not stretched the field. The key here is whether the Colts can block Watt and Clowney. The latter has yet to register a sack this season.
While the Colts defense has applied steady pressure on the pocket, that ability to speed up a quarterback’s clock will be key when considering Watson’s penchant for throwing deep. The Colts tend to play off wide receivers, especially speed threats like Hopkins and Will Fuller. The key is for solid safety play from Malik Hooker and Clayton Geathers, who must be in the right spots to give their cornerbacks help up top because there’s no doubt the visitors are going to test the Colts’ secondary deep.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Colts LT Le’Raven Clark/RT Denzelle Good vs. Texans DE J.J. Watt. The Texans will move Watt to whatever side they think he has the best advantage and might even alternate him to keep the Colts guessing. Either way, neither Clark nor Good have faced the likes of Watt, a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Watt leads the Texans with three sacks. Expect the Colts to chip him as much as possible with a tight end and enlist the inside help of guards Quenton Nelson and Matt Slausson. He’s just too good of a player to be handled one-on-one by an offensive line shuffled by injuries into starting its third different combination in four weeks.
–Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins vs. Colts CBs Kenny Moore/Nate Hairston. The Texans will also move Hopkins around like the Colts do Hilton, which means both Moore and Hairston have to be backpedaling quickly. Because Will Fuller is also a speedy deep threat, the Colts will have to decide on a given play whom they want to double. Hopkins, a two-time Pro Bowl star, has 20 receptions for 274 yards (13.7 yards per catch) and one TD. In the past two games, Hopkins and Fuller have combined to catch 25 passes for 410 yards and three TDs, the second-best duo in the NFL.
