Last week, despite Luck being listed as questionable, Colts coach Chuck Pagano insisted he thought the quarterback would be available for Sunday’s game against the Jaguars. Luck plays. Since losing his first start in his hometown of Houston, Luck is 5-1 against the Texans with 14 TDs and three INTs. That was disappointing. For the team to come back and fight and give us an opportunity to win the game? Johnson was scheduled to have a $16.1 million salary-cap figure this season with the Texans prior to his release. Since arriving in Indianapolis calling the former All Pro a disappointment is an understatement.
Advertisement
Johnson has played in 29 National Football League games (starting five of them) and completed 96 of 177 passes for 1,042 yards, five touchdowns and 10 interceptions. I don’t doubt Hasselbeck’s savvy and ability to mix things up, but he’ll be maimed (figuratively) if Watt has any time at all to bring the pass rush. If the roof has been determined to be closed it will remain closed through the game. Hilton, there isn’t much good to go around on a Colts offense that has severely underperformed, as Andrew Luck hasn’t had an ideal start to the season.
Because if Matt Hasselbeck proved nothing else against Jacksonville, it’s that he isn’t Curtis Painter – which means the offense is automatically in better hands when the starter can’t play.
Speaking of Luck, there’s a chance the franchise quarterback misses his second straight game with a partially separated shoulder. If Houston can stop the run, which they should be able to do unlike last week, then it will be open season on the quarterback in Houston. “I think there’s a general sense where we’re making progress with the team. But better every day”, Luck said.
“I would say Andrew Luck will play in the game, so we will prepare for him”, O’Brien said during the conference call.
“Love you”, Pagano said. And will the Colts’ Andre Johnson, the Texans’ all-time leading receiver, shine in his first shot against his old team?
– The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed kicker Connor Barth for a third stint with the team.
No team wants the game to come down to a kick, especially one from around 50 yards. That bodes well for Houston, regardless if running back Arian Foster is fully healthy or not. While Luck seems more involved in practice, until he’s officially cleared to play on Thursday, it’s fair to be skeptical of how injured he really is.
It’s a fourth straight road Thursday contest on the schedule this week for the Colts, a night they’ve dominated in the past (9-0 since 2007 on Thursday’s), despite all the traveling. The early deficit in Sunday’s game in Atlanta prevented the team from utilizing Foster the way they would like.
Advertisement
A win would allow the two-time defending AFC South champs to retain the division lead, and break the NFL’s record for most consecutive wins against one division.
