Hell yeah they'll try hard. Chuck Pagano will make his return to the sideline next week, so they'll be pumped, and crowd will for sure be pumped, and the extra crowd noise they play through the stadium speakers will be turned up to 11.
Against common opponents the Colts are 4-1 and the Bengals are 3-2, so they'll get the 5 seed. It would be pretty dumb for the Colts to risk injuries and play their starters (especially with a rookie QB). Knocking the Texans out of the 1 seed would pretty much assure the Colts a 2nd round matchup against the Broncos if they get by Baltimore, and I highly doubt there is a single coach in the league who would rather play Denver than Houston. I would be curious to know how thoroughly these coaches look at potential divisional round matchups when deciding whether or not to play their guys.
With the way the Texans played today... they would still lose to the Colts' backups. I would hope that both teams play hard to win, and the Texans get back to doing what made them successful. (consistent line play, get the running game going, effective play-action).
this is what i was coming in to post. it behooves them to lose. and i'd say their starters will be out by halftime regardless. sad that we have to rely on that at this point, but, whatever. insane how high the stakes are for us next week.
Hard to believe this is the question we're asking ourselves for a team that's trying to win home field advantage with the best record in the AFC....yet I understand entirely why you asked it, because I was thinking it by halftime of the Texans game yesterday. Strange season.
1-13 Colts beat and humiliated us with a backup QB last season on primetime TV. When is the last time we won in Indy?
It would be fitting to get our first win in Indy to clinch the 1st seed and set the franchise best record mark at 13-3. It would be pretty damned sad if they lose this one considering how much is riding on it, and how little the Colts have to play for. Even if the Texans blow them out, though, no one is going to be shaking in their boots to play us come playoff time (it will be written off as a trash game for Indy). The performance over the last 6 weeks has been erratic at best. We're stumbling at a very bad time.
I think this team NEEDS A BYE . . . .that is more important than homefield at this point They need sit down and right this ship Rocket River
Whether the Colts try or not the Texans need to beat the Colts not count on the Colts to lose. IMO this has more to do than just getting home field advantage through the playoffs but they need to show they can bounce back from a lack luster performance last game and go into the playoffs with some confidence.
And I am convinced the Texans need home field all the way through the playoffs for any hope of the going to the Super Bowl. If people aren't shaking in their boots to play imagine how it will be if we have to play at Denver and / or New England in January.
No way. This team needs home field. They still can't win big games against good opponents...playoffs will ALL be big games against good opponents. They need to play to correct their play...
Our fan base is full of emotionally unstable nancies. Yes we were off yesterday but we were still a 1 yard TD run (or Kevin Walter knee) and an Arian Foster fumble away from being right in the thick of that game. And I trust that we won't make stupid penalties that put us in 3rd and long and/or keep the defense on the field on 3rd down in the playoffs. Next week won't be easy but we'll take care of business, and I believe that this team will step it up in the playoffs just as they did last year.
