Sunday Night Football is the nightcap that football fanatics have to look forward to as their NFL Sunday winds down. This week will be no different, unless you reside in the greater Houston area. If you are, you’re likely mentally preparing yourself for a mediocre performance from a franchise that has almost come to be expected when they are playing under the lights.
For some mysterious reason the Houston Texans have created a reputation for themselves; they tend to drop the ball in Prime Time matchups. If you look back at their track record, they are 1-4 on Sunday Night, 1-6 on Thursday Night and 4-5 on Monday Night.
NRG Stadium will be the site of an AFC divisional clash when Indianapolis comes to town on Sunday Night, and the battle for arguably the weakest division in football will begin at around 7:30. This game may not spark must interest outside the division, but for the Texans it once again presents the opportunity to take down the Colts for the first time in franchise history on Prime Time. That’s right, the Texans are 0-5 all time against the Colts when playing Prime Time. Now, granted, the Texans were victims of the stronghold of a Future Hall of Famer in Peyton Manning and his stint as “Sheriff” of the AFC South, but even Andrew Luck has found success against Houston with 3 Prime Time wins of his own.
On paper this matchup doesn’t look very enticing for the fan of high flying offense, Houston boasts a defense that ranks 5th in total YPG, against a Colts offense who is has been middle of the pack at best so far in the 2016 campaign. The Colts are also giving up more yards than just about everyone in the league, unfortunately for the Texans they rank 29th , 27th, and 15th in total offense, passing yards per game, and rushing yards per game, respectively. This truly has the makings of a mediocrity bowl.
The Colts have a 2-3 record coming into Houston and look to notch a W in the win column that would create a bottleneck atop the AFC South. The Titans play a winless Cleveland Browns team this week and then the Colts next week, so theoretically we could be looking at Tennessee as the division leader after week 7. This thought alone should be enough motivation for the Texans to shake off the Prime Time blues on Sunday Night, because even in a weak division no lead is safe.
Despite the injury to defensive superstar JJ Watt, the Texans are still eyeing a playoff birth with hopes to host a Wild Card game at NRG. Prime Time or not, the only way that Houston can accomplish this goal is to take care of business against divisional foes. With a Monday Night matchup with the Denver Broncos next week, the Texans could very well find themselves on a 3 game losing streak heading into the mid-way point of the season, opening up the door for the rest of the division to make up some ground. The Texans have already fallen to New England and Minnesota, proving that they are not yet ready to lace it up against top-tier competition, which puts that much more emphasis on winning what should be easier matchups within the division.
It’s a little far fetched to claim Sunday Night as a “must win” game for Houston, but you have to wonder what a loss to the Colts would do to the psyche of the team.
With a struggling quarterback leading a sputtering offense, Houston has had to rely heavily on a short-handed defense to close out games. This strategy may run out of steam as the grueling 16 game season begins to take its toll of the players. If Houston wants a realistic chance at hosting a Wild Card team in January, they better forget their track record and show up to play for a this Prime Time game on Sunday Night.
