The Week 9 matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots features two teams heading in opposite directions in the AFC South. We have all the fantasy projections for you courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 9: Colts vs. Texans featuring Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton and Case Keenum
We break down the Week 9 matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans.
Dilip Vishwanat
Coming off a bye week, the Colts will play their first game without future Hall of Fame wide receiver Reggie Wayne. Wayne tore his ACL against the Denver Broncos back in Week 7. The injury will force quarterback Andrew Luck to throw more passes to the likes of T.Y. Hilton, Darrius Heyward-Bey and tight end Coby Fleener. Hilton has the best fantasy numbers of the trio and is the one player expected to see an uptick in production with Wayne sidelined for the rest of the year.
In terms of the ground game, Trent Richardson and Donald Brown will again carry the load for the Colts. Richardson in particular was a favorite to have a break out game against the Broncos two weeks ago but that never materialized. The former first round pick ran for just 37 yards on 14 carries, for an average of just 2.6 yards per carry. Richardson's less than ideal output of late means Brown, who had 11 carries against the Broncos, could continue to see double-digit carries against the Texans in Week 9.
The Texans have been of the more surprising teams of the 2013 NFL season in a bad way. They've been regarded as a Super Bowl contender for the last few seasons and have not been able to live up to that billing. Poor play at the quarterback position and injuries are two big reasons for that. Fans and fantasy owners alike would've never predicted that Matt Schaub would be riding the pine in favor of backup Case Keenum, but that's exactly what has materialized with the team posting just two wins in seven games this season.
In his first career start against the Kansas City Chiefs last week, Keenum threw for 271 passing yards and a touchdown and gave his team a fighting chance at a victory in the one-point loss. Keenum will most likely rely on running back Ben Tate (ribs) to play through his injury and move the chains along with ground. With teammate Arian Foster (hamstring) potentially sitting out and likely limited if he plays, Tate could see upwards of 20 touches against the Colts in Week 9.
• Week 9 fantasy football rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | D/ST
• Week 9 fantasy football waiver wire: QB | RB | WR | TE | D/ST
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