Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans

While the Houston Texans were suffering through seven straight seasons at or below, and usually below the .500 mark, one thing was almost a sure thing and that was the kicking off Kris Brown.

The kicker has been the only one in the eight year history of the franchise and hits more than his share of big kicks over the years, but as the Texans (5-5) have seemingly turned a corner, Brown has been slumping, especially in big kicks.

He may have a chance to atone for one of his earlier kicks in which his field goal attempt at the end of a Week 9 that would have allowed Houston to tie the Indianapolis Colts and force an overtime session in which the Texans could become the first team to defeat the Colts (10-0) this season.

That did not happen as Brown missed the kick, helping Indianapolis survive the November 8 game played at Lucas Oil Stadium.

A couple of weeks later the Colts are still undefeated and Brown missed another chance to tie a game at the end to force overtime when he missed his field goal wide left on Monday night at home against the surging Tennessee Titans.

Nothing can erase the sting of those losses than a victory over the Colts, who the Texans have beaten just once in 15 tries since joining the league in 2002.

Indianapolis is 10-0 and winners of 19 straight regular season games. They need two wins to tie and three wins to surpass their rivals, the New England Patriots for the longest regular season winning streak in NFL history.

It has not been easy for the Indianapolis Colts lately, however. They needed a meltdown from Bill Belichick two weeks ago to get a victory over the Patriots and survived a three turnover and low-scoring affair in their old stomping grounds of Baltimore to defeat the Ravens, 17-15 last Sunday.

Peyton Manning finished under 300 yards for just the second time this season, throwing for 299 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, but he for 318 yards with a touchdown and pick in the Colts 20-17 win over Houston three weeks ago.

Matt Shaub continues to put together a solid season and trails just Manning and Tom Brady in quarterback rating in the NFL. He threw for 305 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the losing effort last week.

Shaub will go over the 3000 yard mark this weekend, barring an injury or an incredibly poor passing performance (he is 42 yards shy of the mark) and has 19 touchdowns against just nine interceptions this season, although he tossed more interceptions (2) than touchdowns (1) in the teams last matchup.

Click here for more Football Betting Lines and Online Sports Betting Lines

---

---

Comments