Colts: 3 reasons Indy will own the Texans for the foreseeable future

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.

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.

2. Offensive Line

This one honestly doesn’t need much of an analysis as the Colts have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. What’s so important for the team is that unit will be returning all five of its starters — Anthony Castonzo (LT) , Quenton Nelson (LG), Ryan Kelly (C), Mark Glowinski (RG) and Braden Smith (RT) — for the second consecutive year.

All five of those studs started all 16 games for Indianapolis in 2019. We know the chances of that happening again are slim, but this group has so much talent that it would be able to overcome the loss of one (or possibly two) starters. Expect the Colts offensive line to spearhead an elite running game and give Philip Rivers all the time in the world to find and target open receivers.

Then, however, there’s the Texans OL. To their credit, they made Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil the highest-paid lineman in the NFL this offseason. Ensuring that Watson’s blindside is protected at all times was a commendable decision from Houston, but it still doesn’t fix the ineffectiveness of the rest of the group, which has had the generational QB running for his life several times per week for the last few seasons.

1. Coaching

There simply wasn’t an aspect of the game more fitting for the top spot on this list than the discrepancy in coaching between the Colts and Texans. Before fans in Houston jump in and claim that Frank Reich regressed in his second year at the helm, let us remind you that he had to manage around the abrupt retirement of Andrew Luck, one of the most talented QBs of the last decade, who called it a career last preseason.

Any head coach would find it impossible to overcome a loss and of that magnitude. Indianapolis’ 7-9 record in 2019 doesn’t change our steadfast conviction in Reich, who shares a great relationship with his roster.

Speaking of which, Bill O’Brien finds it alarmingly difficult to get along with his players, particularly his superstars. Remember when the Texans traded DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona for pennies on the dollar because the stud wideout was so fed up playing for the 50-year-old? That debacle came a few months after Houston squandered a 21-0 lead over Kansas City in the Divisional Round of the playoffs and ended up losing by three touchdowns.

Yeah, we’ll give a sizable edge to the Colts in the all-important coaching department.