Indianapolis @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 11, 2016 ) Houston 22, Indianapolis 17

Houston was dealt a dose of devastating news when rookie DeShaun Watson suffered a torn ACL at practice on Thursday. The Texans expect to be without their breakout quarterback under center - and possibly for much of next season as well - when they host the struggling Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Watson threw for a career-high 402 yards and four touchdowns in last week's wild 41-38 loss at Seattle but reports out of Houston indicated he tore the ligament in a non-contact drill. With Watson sidelined, the Texans will have to go back to Tom Savage, who lost his starting job midway through the team's season-opener. The Colts, who have also dealt with quarterback issues, made it official on Thursday that Andrew Luck would miss the rest of the season due to lingering shoulder problems. Ravaged by a slew of injuries, especially to its offensive line, Indianapolis has dropped three straight - including last week's 24-23 setback at Cincinnati.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: No line. O/U: None.

ABOUT THE COLTS (2-6): Playing for Luck, Jacoby Brissett has been nothing less than a warrior getting battered week after week. Despite being sacked a league-high 29 times, Brissett has completed 60.4 percent of his passes and nearly led the team to an upset win at Cincinnati last week before his fourth-quarter pass was picked off and returned 16 yards for a touchdown by Carlos Dunlap with 6:58 to play. The Colts reportedly were in trade talks this week involving several players, among them receivers T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief, cornerback Vontae Davis and running back Frank Gore, but made no deals.
ABOUT THE TEXANS (3-4): Buoyed by Watson's strong play, the Texans lead the NFL in scoring averaging 30.4 points a game and have surpassed that total for five straight games. DeAndre Hopkins has re-emerged as one of the league's best receivers with six touchdowns over the past four games, including a career-high 224 yards last week. Will Fuller has been equally effective with seven touchdown receptions in just four games after getting his season started late due to injury, but all bets are off without Watson making the throws.

EXTRA POINTS
1. Houston has won three straight in the series, including both matchups last season. Also, the last six meetings have been decided by seven points or less.
2. With his 3-for-3 field goal kicking performance last week, Colts K Adam Vinatieri tied Gary Anderson for the second-most points scored in NFL history with 2,434.
3. TE Jack Doyle recorded 12 catches in Week 8, the most in a game for any Colts player since Reggie Wayne had 13 receptions against the Packers in 2012.

PREDICTION: Texans 25, Colts 20