Texans vs. Colts 2013, Week 15: Indianapolis gets back on track against lowly Houston

The Texans, who haven’t won since Week 2, didn’t score a single point over the final three quarters, had just 132 passing yards and allowed four sacks. A week after being flagged 14 times for 177 yards, they piled up 14 penalties for 114 yards. Gary Kubiak’s firing has helped nothing in the short term, and if anything has resulted in Houston playing even worse.

Battle Red Blog sums up the sheer awfulness:

No notable injuries were reported in this game.

The Colts were 4.5-point favorites in the game, according to OddsShark. They covered the spread with ease.

The sack also pushed Mathis to 16.5 on the season, besting the previous single-season record also set by Freeney back in 2004. He has amassed two or more sacks on five occasions this season, and there’s time to extend this to six in the second half against the Texans.

Mathis’ season is made more impressive by the lack of help around him. He’s the only player on the Colts with more than 5.0 sacks, making him a targeted player that opposing offenses are unable to stop.

Game Date/Time and Location: Sunday, Dec. 15, 1 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Field, Indianapolis, Ind.

TV schedule and distribution map: CBS; The506.com

On top of the lack of offense, the defense has regressed at an extreme rate. The unit went from being one of the top squads in the league to being among the worst in recent weeks. The Colts will have to right the ship if they plan on having a long playoff run.

The Texans are essentially playing for nothing more than pride these days. Houston is the only team with a mid-season coach firing (Gary Kubiak) and seem destined to own the first overall pick in May. The Texans have a solid defense with plenty of talent, but the offense has been consistently up-and-down.

At 2-11 the Texans currently own the worst record in the NFL. They’ve lost 11 straight games and fired head coach Gary Kubiak last week. Indianapolis’ season has gone better, even with recent issues, and the Colts are currently 8-5. Indianapolis is likely out of the running for a first-round bye and has already clinched the division title. The rest of the regular season won’t do much beyond impact which team the Colts face in the first round of the playoffs.

Regardless of the implications, most NFL experts predicted Indianapolis to come away with the win. Five of SB Nation’s six NFL experts picked the Colts with only Ryan Van Bibber picking Houston.