Oh, yeah! Who doesn’t get absolutely geeked out of their mind with the season opener on the horizon? If you don’t, it’s time to get your pulse checked. The Colts are coming to town to start the season at NRG Stadium for the first time since 2011. The first time the Colts began the season in Houston was in 2010 when a former practice squad running back named Arian Foster ran for 230 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-24 win. Foster became a legend that day for that performance and the Texans beat the Colts for just the second time in their history.
After a long run of Colts’ wins at the outset of the Texans football life, the two AFC South combatants settled in as the two powers in the division. From 2014 through 2020, the Colts and Texans locked horns in nothing but one score games. Gut punch losses and exhilarating wins earmarked that timeframe, but in 2021, things changed. Badly. The Frank Reich-led Colts dominated the Texans in both matchups last season. Furthermore, the Texans could only muster a field goal in Indianapolis in the two games as the Colts napalmed the run of one-score results with a 31-3 blowout followed by a 31-0 shutout. Texans head coach Lovie Smith mentioned numerous times how difficult those results were to digest in preparation for this matchup to start the 2022 season on Sunday.
No team in the NFL is completely immune to change and the Colts are no exception. For all of the Jonathan Taylors, Quenton Nelsons and Shaquille (Darius) Leonards that have been mainstays on the roster for years, there’s been a rotating door at QB. First, it was Jacoby Brissett, then Philip Rivers, then Carson Wentz and now Matt Ryan at the position. The 2016 MVP steps into a star studded huddle in his 15th year in the league, carrying the pressure of the Colts not making the playoffs last season with seven Pro Bowlers. How much does Ryan’s presence play a role for the Colts in this matchup? Are the Texans ready for a 12-round slugfest? Two major questions to which…
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