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Pro Football Focus has their preview of tomorrow evening's Thursday Night Football AFC South clash ready for your review. What are your thoughts on the Texans-Colts data below?
Texans Overview:
· Here’s our game analysis for last week’s loss against the Falcons.
· Ryan Mallet is the league’s 30th-rated QB (minimum 25% of the snaps) with a -6.3 rating. He’s been much better when blitzed (+4.8 rating, completing 19-of-30 passes), than when not blitzed (-8.8 rating, completing 51-of-106 passes).
· DeAndre Hopkins (+4.2 overall rating) leads the league in the number of targets (61), 12 more than Demaryius Thomas, but his percentage caught (50.8%) ranks 60th amongst receivers with a minimum of 50% of their team’s snaps.
· Right Guard Brandon Brooks is Houston’s highest-rated offensive player with a +5.7 overall rating (+3.6 pass block, +1.4 run block), while right tackle Derek Newton has struggled all season with a -10.9 overall rating (-8.5 pass block, -1.6 run block).
· J.J. Watt is the best 3-4 defensive end with a +21.5 overall rating, including a +14.0 pass rush rating and a +5.7 run defense rating. He has four sacks, five QB hits, seven QB hurries, four batted passes and 19 stops.
· Meanwhile, Jared Crick is the worst-rated (48th) 3-4 defensive end at -10.0, including a -4.3 pass rush rating and a -6.5 run defense rating.
· Jadeveon Clowney is putting together a solid season as Houston’s top run defender (+5.8), while being their second-highest rated overall at +4.9 on 199 snaps.
· Houston has the 26th overall rated offense (-43.9) and the league’s worst rated passing offense (-22.9). However, the Texans have the league’s 11th-rated overall defense at +10.7, and 10th-rated run defense at +13.1.
I'm a bit surprised that the Texans' defense is rated so highly by PFF's metrics, especially coming off a total drubbing by the Falcons.
Colts Overview:
· Here’s a look back at Indianapolis’ week four victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
· Andrew Luck is the league’s 32nd-rated QB (minimum 25% of the snaps) with a -8.2 rating. He’s recorded the worst overall PFF QB Rating at 68.94, and is tied with Mallet for the worst overall NFL QB rating at 65.1.
· Frank Gore is rated as the league’s 59th-rated running back (-4.2 overall) for those with 25% of the snaps, while T.Y. Hilton leads the Colts offense with a +5.0 overall rating (7th best in the league).
· Rookie Henry Anderson is the Colts highest-rated player and steadily improved each week. He’s recorded a +9.4 overall rating on 230 snaps, including a +7.5 run defense and a +1.1 pass rush.
· Darius Butler (-5.8 overall) and Jalil Brown (-4.3) have struggled in pass coverage with -5.7 and -3.9 ratings respectively.
· Indianapolis has the 21st overall rated offense (-33.4) and the league’s worst rated rushing offense (-9.3). The Colts have the league’s 18th-rated overall defense at -0.2.
As bad as Andrew Luck has been, PFF says Indianapolis' offense has been better than Houston's through four games. Let's hope Arian Foster changes that conclusion tomorrow night.
Colts vs Texans coverage
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