The Houston Texans are seven-point underdogs to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1. The AFC South showdown inside NRG Stadium on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time may be a good chance for the Colts to start 1-0.
According to Pete Prisco from CBS Sports, the Colts will inaugurate the Matt Ryan era with a win, and he actually expects a close game with Indianapolis prevailing 31-27.
This will be Matt Ryan‘s first game as the Colts quarterback after coming over in a trade. Ryan is still more than capable of lighting things up, which will prove to be a challenge for the Texans defense. They also can pound Jonathan Taylor. Davis Mills looked good for the Texans late last year, which will carry over here. Look for a lot of points in a tight game.
The 31 points from Indianapolis is the precise point total from the first two meetings in Weeks 6 and 13 last year, which means Taylor is going to have his way with Houston’s defense on the ground, or that Ryan is going to find the soft spots in the Texans’ Tampa 2 scheme.
What it also indicates is that offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton’s offense is a marked improvement over the 2021 version. Only three times did the Texans go over 30 points, and they won all three games. Similarly the Texans had just four losses among their 13 that were by a touchdown or less. Needless to say the Colts’ series in 2021 featured a 31-3 blowout and a 31-0 shutout. A four-point loss to the Colts would be closing the gap between the team two teams and infuse a little more optimism for Houston sports fans despite taking another L at the hands of Indianapolis.
The Texans are 2-0 all-time against the Colts on Opening Day. If Houston could make it 3-0 all-time, it would be a shock to the punditry.
