With Peyton Manning standing on the sidelines, a late-season showdown between the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts isn't quite the draw the NFL Network executives thought it would be when they scheduled it in the preseason.
So despite a 2-16 franchise record against Indianapolis, Houston is a -5.5 road favorite over the Colts on Sunday.
After starting the season 0-13, the Colts managed to get a number in the win column in a 27-13 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
But, as you would expect from a team that has already locked up the No. 1 pick in the 2012 Draft, Indianapolis has been uniformly bad across the board this year -- ranking in the bottom third of the league in passing yards, rushing yards, passing yards allowed and rushing yards allowed.
For rookie QB TJ Yates, coming off the worst start of his career, the Colts' bottom-ranked defense should be a nice panacea, especially if they allow Arian Foster and Ben Tate big gains on the ground.
The Texans defense, meanwhile, will try to rebound from a disappointing performance against Carolina without defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who missed Sunday's game while recovering from surgery.
With neither offense firing on all cylinders, the odds-makers have set the over/under for Thursday's game at 40.5.
For more on the Texans, check out Battle Red Blog, while Stampede Blue has you covered for everything Colts related.
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