Pro Football Focus Previews Texans-Colts

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.

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