Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts will take it to the road for a week 1 AFC South match up with the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon.
They kick off this game from Houston at 1PM Eastern Time with television coverage provided by CBS Television.
The point spread in this game opened up with the road team Indianapolis Colts opening up as 3 point betting favorites with the over under coming in at 47.
The early money from the NFL bettors has come on the side of the home underdog as the Indianapolis Colts are now favored by only 1 ½ points. The total saw movement downward to 46 ½.
Money line bettors on the side of the favored Indianapolis Colts will lay -130 odds with the home underdog Houston Texans bringing back +110 to pull off the upset with without the aid of taking the points.
In their two meetings last year it was Indy pulling out a 20-17 home victory as a 7 ½ point favorite and posted the 35-27 victory at Houston as a 3 point favorite. The Colts have won the past three visits to Houston straight up and 7 of their past 8.
Veteran quarterback Peyton Manning is back following a successful year in 2009 where he completed 68.8% of his passes for 4500 yards 33 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The Colts were the number two passing offense in the league and made the Super Bowl last season.
In his two games against the Texans Manning completed 61 of 85 for 562 yards 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
Joseph Addai returns to the Colt backfield and he produced 828 yards on 219 carries and 10 touchdowns. His backup Donald Brown produced only a 3.6 yards per rush average. The Colts were 32nd in the league in rushing average just over 80 yards per game.
Peyton Manning has his playmakers back this season in Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Pierre Garcon, Austin Collie and Anthony Gonzalez. Clark and Wayne contributed with 100 receptions a year ago. Manning will utilize his running backs in the passing game as Addai contributed with 51 receptions.
The Colts were 18th in the league in total defense allowing 339 yards per game. The Colts held their own in pass defense ranking 14th in the league allowing 212 yards through the air.
The Houston Texans are still searching for their first playoff berth in the history of their franchise. The big obstacle for this club is their failure in AFC South divisional games. A big roadblock for this team is their lack of success against the Colts and here they are in week 1.
Matt Schaub was a pro bowl quarterback last season hitting on a very good 67.9% of his passes with 4770 yards 29 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
In his two games against the Colts last season Schaub completed 63 of 85 passes for 595 yards three touchdowns and 4 picks.
The Texans throughout their history has struggled to find success of the ground. In the second round they drafted Ben Tate out of Auburn and the rookie was lost to a season ending injury with a broken ankle.
Steve Slaton was ineffective last year with only a 3.3 yards per carry average on 131 carries. Second year pro Arian Foster had a 4.8 yards per rush average on just 54 carries and its simply his job to lose in 2010.
The Texans are loaded in their receiver and tight end position. Andre Johnson is simply the best at his position right now. The pro bowler had 101 receptions for 1569 yards and 9 touchdowns last season.
A key to the teams early success last season was the play of their tight end Owen Daniels. The five year pro had 40 catches for an outstanding 13.0 yards per catch average for his position and 5 touchdowns. The Texans were 5-3 prior to losing Daniels for the season to injury.
Defensively the Texans ranked a respectable 13th in the league allowing 324 yards per game. They have improved in recent seasons in rush defense as opponents only averaged 106 yards per game.
A big loss on the defensive side of the ball is linebacker Brian Cushing who has been suspended for four games due to testing positive for illegal performance enhancing drugs. Cushing is the rookie of the year and led the Texans in tackles and interceptions. This is a significant loss for the Texans defense.
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NFL Trend: Houston Texans are 3-1 ATS in their past 4 meetings.
Tags: betting, cbs tv, Houston Texans, Indianapolis colts, nfl, Odds, pick, preview, pro football, september 12th 2010, sunday
