FANTASY FOOTBALL IN-SEASON FEATURES

Predictions Summary »  Player Rankings (Projections) »  myHuddle Projections by Team »  Projections Summary by Team »

Prediction: HOU 27, IND 17 (Line: HOU by 7)

Players to Watch: Arian Foster, Andre Johnson

This game takes an interesting twist. Now it is that the Texans must win this to ensure a first round bye and homefield advantage throughout - pretty important stuff. And yet the Colts are locked into their #5 seed wild card and have nothing to play for. So it is now the Texans hoping to sponge off a meaningless game for the Colts and not vice-versa.

This is a replay of just two weeks ago when the Texans won 29-17 at home.

Pregame Notes: The Texans have really stumbled here at the end with a 1-2 record these last three weeks and their losses were not just overtime lose-by-a-field-goal variety. They were trounced and embarrassed by the Patriots and then beaten shockingly well by the visiting Vikings. At least the one win was against the Colts and everything is on the line this week because no one wants to travel to Denver for the Championship game.

Arian Foster was pulled from the game last week right when fantasy owners needed him the most. He ended with only 29 total yards and had an irregular heartbeat that prompted them to shut him down. He has since been to a cardiologist and gotten the thumbs-up and will play. With a week to rest, this will be a full effort from him and shortened only in the event the Texans got a large and seemingly insurmountable lead. Foster ran for a season high 165 yards on 27 carries in Indy.

Owen Daniels has not practice on Thursday to rest his hamstring but so far is expected to play this week. He only caught four passes for 40 yards in the last meeting.

Matt Schaub threw for 261 yards and one score against the Colts and 151 of those yards - and the touchdown - all went to Andre Johnson on his 11 catches. Johnson has been on a hot streak for the last six weeks and will again need to show up to secure this game. He remains the only wide receiver of any fantasy relevance on this team all year.

Foster should be a lock here for a big game since they will rely on him first and mix in as much passing as needed to win the game. Johnson is a must-start regardless and along with Foster are the only two really attractive starts this week. Had the Texans won just one more game this year, there would be no fantasy players from the Texans.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
QB Matt Schaub, HOU	@IND	0	0	0	0	0	250	2	1
Two weeks ago Schaub threw for 261 and 1 against the Colts. He may be asked to do a bit more of the heavy lifting with Arian Foster coming back from an irregular heartbeat. And Houston still has something to play for, as a win would salt away the top seed and home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB Arian Foster, HOU	@IND	80	1	3	20	0	0	0	0
Foster rolled the Colts for 165 yards on 27 carries a couple weeks back, and he's been cleared by doctors following last week's irregular heartbeat incident. But with the playoffs looming and Ben Tate healthy, not to mention the whole heartbeat thing, that seems like an aggressive workload against Indy. Settle for "good", but he'll likely share too much with Tate to hit "great".

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB Ben Tate, HOU	@IND	40	0	3	20	0	0	0	0
Indy has allowed 100-plus rushing yards in five of the last six games, including 178 to the Texans in Week 15. Arian Foster accounted for most of that, but Tate's healthier now and after Foster left last week's game with an irregular heartbeat it wouldn't be a shock to see Tate handle a bigger share of the work this week.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Andre Johnson, HOU	@IND	0	0	7	100	1	0	0	0
Johnson took the Colts for 11-151-1 a couple weeks back, so he should have no trouble collecting the 43 yards he needs to reach the 1,500-yard mark. And with double-digit targets in four straight (and five of six, and eight of the last 10) he'll be the guy Matt Schaub leans on if the ground game can't get going--or if the Texans find themselves playing catch-up to Andrew Luck.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR DeVier Posey, HOU	@IND	0	0	2	30	0	0	0	0
Is Posey taking over the wingman job from Kevin Walter? Maybe, but he hasn't done enough to turn that gig into something warranting fantasy attention just yet.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
TE Owen Daniels, HOU	@IND	0	0	4	40	1	0	0	0
Daniels didn't do much against Indy a couple weeks back, and with James Casey and Garrett Graham stealing the occasional touchdown he's a tough start in TD-heavy scoring systems. He's still the lead dog in the Texans' tight end rotation, but that doesn't carry as much weight as it used to.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
TE Garrett Graham, HOU	@IND	0	0	2	20	0	0	0	0
Graham's biggest fantasy impact is stealing just enough from Owen Daniels' plate to render him a lesser fantasy entity. He's not doing enough on his own on a consistent basis to warrant a fantasy start.

Pregame Notes: HC Chuck Pagano said he will not rest players in Sunday's game against the Texans and he may believe that. But unless the game remains very close, the players may see the sideline eventually anyway which makes relying on any of them at least a small risk. These Colts are new at heading to the playoffs and could use the time to stay sharp.

Andrew Luck already scored twice in Houston though he completed just 13 of 27 passes for 186 yards and was sacked five times. J. J. Watts needs just two sacks to tie the single-season record and three to break it which seems highly likely in this game. Luck has been sacked 18 times over the last five games and now stands in the way of a record. And he wants to play in a meaningless game.

Vick Ballard ran for a career best 105 yards on 18 carries in Houston and the Colts are no longer shy about feeding him 18+ carries a game. That could be impacted by a big Texans lead or just the reality that Ballard needs to be healthy for next week too and taking a pounding for nothing may not be the wisest plan.

Reggie Wayne specifically made an appeal to not be rested this week and to play the game despite only coming up with 14 yards on three catches in the previous matchup. T.Y. Hilton was the lead receiver that week with 78 yards on three catches and one score.

Relying on any Colt this week is risky. The Texans have a great rushing defense and while they have played much worse against the pass overall in the second half of the year, they are getting all their defenders back from injury and they have to win this game. The Colts have good intentions on starting players but how long they play could become the issue.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
QB Andrew Luck, IND	HOU	20	0	0	0	0	280	2	2
Luck has the double task of extending his own rookie passing record and improving the Colts' playoff seed. He's hovered around 200 yards each of the past three games, but he did throw two TDs against the Texans a couple weeks back. Luck averaged around 280 passing yards per game at home, and with a little something still left to play for look for him to keep chucking.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB Vick Ballard, IND	HOU	80	0	3	20	0	0	0	0
Ballard banged out 105 yards against the Texans a couple weeks back--yes, the same Texans' D that held Adrian Peterson in check last week. With playoff seeding on the line, expect a better effort from Houston's run defense--and more of the offensive load to fall on Andrew Luck and the passing game.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Reggie Wayne, IND	HOU	0	0	6	80	1	0	0	0
Houston held Wayne in check a couple weeks back, but a dozen targets and a touchdown last week against the Chiefs provides reassurance that he's still Andrew Luck's go-to guy. This game still has meaning, so Wayne won't be ignored.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR T.Y. Hilton, IND	HOU	0	0	4	60	0	0	0	0
Hilton was Indy's leading receiver in the previous meeting with Houston, but he's reliant on a home run ball and as such difficult to trust with a fantasy start.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Darrius Heyward-Bey, IND	HOU	0	0	3	30	0	0	0	0
with Matt Leinart last week, DHB only gained 2-31. Throw in Terrelle Pryor this week and no reason to touch any Raiders receiver.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
TE Dwayne Allen, IND	HOU	0	0	4	40	1	0	0	0
The Texans have given up four TE TDs in the past three games, including one to Allen two weeks back. And with Coby Fleener still a non-factor, Allen isn't a bad bet to reprise his production from a couple weeks ago.

	Opp	fga	FGM	xpa	XPM	ConFac
K Adam Vinatieri, IND	HOU	2	1	2	2
Vinny has multiple treys in each of his last three at home, and with Indy still looking to improve its playoff lot he should get plenty of chances to swing the leg this week.

 Print