Houston Texans vs. Indianapolis Colts Preview and Predictions 10-20-2019

With Andrew Luck's surprising retirement on the eve of the regular season, the debate over the best quarterback in the AFC South was settled and Houston's Deshaun Watson became the obvious choice. Watson will try to guide the Houston Texans to a third consecutive win when they visit the Luck-less Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

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Watson guided the Texans offense to a combined 84 points in wins over the Atlanta Falcons and the Kansas City Chiefs in the last two games and showed off his versatility with a pair of rushing scores while helping to keep the powerful Chiefs offense off the field last week. Watson is averaging 301.3 yards passing with 12 touchdowns and three interceptions and owns five rushing TDs to support a solid rushing attack based around veterans Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson. The Colts may not have Luck any longer, but they remain right behind Houston in the AFC South standings and got an extra week to prepare after earning their own win over Kansas City, 19-13 in Week 5. "I think it's the quality of the players that we have," Indianapolis coach Frank Reich told reporters when asked about the strength of his team. "Not just of how good of football players they are, but just the football character of them - that we are a team. And when we step out on the field, that's our aim: we want to be the best team."

TV: 1 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Colts -1. O/U: 47

ABOUT THE TEXANS (4-2): Houston battled through some uneven performances offensively before hitting its stride over the last two games and Watson is guiding a well-rounded attack. While Hyde and Johnson have combined for 665 yards rushing, wide receivers Will Fuller V (33 receptions, 444 yards, three TDs) and DeAndre Hopkins (40 receptions, 402 yards, two TDs) are rounding into one of the best tandems in the league. "I think we're getting to that point where we're figuring out what we want to be on offense," Hyde told ESPN. "... I think things are definitely starting to jell. Things are definitely starting to come together."

ABOUT THE COLTS (3-2): Jacoby Brissett is proving to be a capable replacement for Luck under center, but the Indianapolis offense is built around the offensive line and the running game, led by third-year back Marlon Mack. The 23-year-old bounced back from a sub-par effort in a loss to Oakland in Week 4 by rumbling for 132 yards on 29 carries in Week 5 behind an offensive line that dominated up front. "This is what we want to define us," Reich told reporters. "We want it to start up front. When we got here, (general manager) Chris (Ballard) two years ago, we would start talking about what we wanted to build. This is the kind of team we wanted to build."

EXTRA POINTS

1. Colts LB Darius Leonard (concussion) sat out the last three games but cleared the protocol and returned to practice this week.

2. Texans rookie OT Tytus Howard (partial MCL tear) is out indefinitely and the team signed OLs Dan Skipper and Chris Clark this week.

3. The road team took all three meetings last season, including Indianapolis' 21-7 win at Houston in the wild-card round of the playoffs.