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By now, even the newest Texans fan knows that our team has never won a game in Indy. We've been close before (last season's loss against the Colts turned when Ryan Fitzpatrick's leg broke, IMO), but we've never quite managed to pull out a victory. We don't just hope to change that today; we need to, if we're going to get into the playoffs.
The Texans may be helped by the fact that Andrew Luck is still out with his torso injuries, but we lost to Matt Hasselbeck earlier this season when Luck was out due to injuries, too, so facing Hasselbeck is no guarantee of a victory. There is still a chance that Hasselbeck is too injured to play this game, or that he won't be able to complete the game, which would have our defense facing Charlie Whitehurst.
The important thing for us this game is for the offensive issues we've been battling all season to finally come to an end. We cannot afford all the dropped passes. We cannot afford all the three-and-outs. We cannot afford to run the freaking wildcat. If our offense can perform worth a d@mn, this game is winnable. That's a big if, though, because they've been substandard all season.
Our defense will need to ensure that Andre Johnson remains as irrelevant to the Colts' offensive production as he has been all season. He had something to prove last time we faced him, and he played his best game of the season. For pride's sake, we need to see that he doesn't do it again. We also need to see to it that T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief are contained, and that Frank Gore doesn't re-create his heroics from his 49ers days. None of these things are impossible for our defense when we're playing at the level we're capable of. It's really just a matter of whether we play to our strengths, which we've struggled with doing in all three phases this season.
What about y'all? What do you expect to see? Are you worried about what 'Dre does this time? Or do you think the Hasselbeck-Whitehurst issue will play into our hands? This is your Countdown to Kickoff. Chill out here until 11:45AM CST when the game's first open thread is available. Inactives will be posted around 10:45 AM CST.
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