The Colts have won five of their last seven against the Texans and the domination will continue.
The Indianapolis Colts will look to rebound from an underwhelming 2019 season in which they finished 7-9 and missed out on the playoffs. That record wasn’t exactly a reflection of poor performances as the team came up just short in a handful of one-score games.
With that being said, this campaign figures to feature a lot more winning for the Colts, who used the offseason to make a number of additions on both sides of the ball.
Despite his struggles last year, the arrival of Philip Rivers in free agency will be a significant upgrade at quarterback. On defense, the trade for DeForest Buckner projects to provide some much-needed relief to stalwarts Justin Houston and Darius Leonard, who combined to post 165 tackles,14 sacks, 24 QB hits, and four forced fumbles in 2019.
Colts GM on trading for DeForest Buckner: "I know the 13th pick is a high price, but we haven't made a lot of big moves like this and a chance to acquire a player of this caliber with is character, I thought it was a no-brainer."https://t.co/STsQfG24DH pic.twitter.com/2DwZk3YfrV
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) April 18, 2020
Even before all of that, this team was already rivaling the Houston Texans, against whom they are 5-2 in their last seven contests. Expect the numbers in the win column to continue to grow for the foreseeable future, especially for these three reasons.
3. Drafting/Depth
Does anybody else remember the last time Houston selected an impact player in the Draft? You could say taking Deshaun Watson at No. 12 overall back in 2017 was a fantastic pick, but that was also four drafts ago and the Texans have failed to advance beyond the Divisional Round since then. If that doesn’t prove that the reigning AFC South champs have failed to do right by the former Clemson star, we don’t know what will.
Indianapolis, meanwhile, adds both talent and depth to their roster every year. We’ve seen general manager Chris Ballard draft studs like Quenton Nelson, Darius Leonard, Braden Smith and Rock Ya-Sin since 2018. This past April, he nabbed two potential world-beaters in wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and running back Jonathan Taylor, both of whom were taken in the second round and figure to contribute from Day 1.
The importance of drafting and positional depth cannot be understated, especially with no preseason for players to get themselves into game shape. Subbing will be more prevalent in 2020, and the Colts will be more prepared for that than Houston.