Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans

With a close home win last week to a sub-.500 team, the Indianapolis Colts know they need to play better as they hit a competitive portion of their schedule beginning Sunday with a resurgent Houston Texans team at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Indianapolis Colts (7-0) are perfect through seven games for the fourth time in five seasons and are looking for the 17th consecutive regular season victory, but their typically high-flying offense hit a snag in their 18-14 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in which Indianapolis hit on four field goals in four red zone trips and Peyton Manning went without a touchdown pass for the first time since November 30, 2008.

Indianapolis received no help on the ground as they tried the ground game 21 times and gained just 61 yards in the win over the 49ers. The Indianapolis Colts have been struggling in that area, averaging just 87.3 yards per game to rank 30th in the NFL.

A couple weeks ago, this game appeared to be a favorable matchup but the Texans have firmed up their defense in recent weeks. In their first three games, they allowed their opponents to 205 yards on the ground, but have chopped that down to 58.2 yards per game in the last five.

The Houston Texans coasted to an easy win on the road, 31-10 over the Buffalo Bills last week to clinch their third straight victory, their best start in franchise history and it marked the first time that the team has been more than one game over the .500 mark in their eight years of existence.

Houston is in the thick of the playoff race in the AFC, having never gone to the postseason, but need this victory to stay close to the Colts in the standings and avoid falling four games behind in the AFC South.

Yet, the Texans will try to find a way to beat the Colts, which they have done just once in 14 all-time games when they kicked a last second field goal in 2006. They have never won in Indianapolis.