INDIANAPOLIS — The fantasy playoffs are in full swing, and you need to find points to advance to the next round. Which Indianapolis Colts players might be able to assist with big performances today against the Houston Texans?
We've got you covered here.
(Weekly positional rankings from FanDuel. Ranks as of Sunday.)
QB Philip Rivers
» FanDuel Week 15 Position Rank: QB16
» Texans vs. QBs: 21st (19.8 FPPG)
» Week 13 matchup vs. Texans: Rivers had 19.2 points, his second-best outing this season behind Week 11 against the Green Bay Packers (22.4 points); he completed 27-of-35 passes for 285 yards with two touchdowns.
Rivers has pretty consistently been putting up at least 250 passing yards and two touchdowns these last few weeks. With the Texans really hurting at cornerback entering this game, there's no reason to believe he can't have a solid performance once again. If you have two QBs and you need guaranteed decent points, I'd definitely start Rivers here.
RBs Jonathan Taylor, Nyheim Hines
» FanDuel Week 15 Position Rank: Taylor RB9, Hines RB30
» Texans vs. RBs: 31st (28.1 FPPG)
» Week 13 matchup vs. Texans: The Colts' running back group as a whole had 34.5 points. Taylor had a big day with 21 points (91 rushing yards; 44 receiving yards, TD), and Hines had 10.7 points thanks in large part to a rushing score.
Taylor is on fire, and he's back in the top-10 rankings this week. He had his terrific outing two weeks ago against the Texans, and then had a career-best 150 yards rushing and two scores last week against the Las Vegas Raiders. He's a must-start today. And I don't know why Hines is ranked so low this week; he traditionally does well against the Texans, and they absolutely stink against running backs. He's a decent flex option if you need it.
WRs T.Y. Hilton, Michael Pittman Jr.
» FanDuel Week 15 Position Rank: Hilton WR24, Pittman Jr. WR34
» Texans vs. WRs: Tied-24th (32.5 FPPG)
» Week 13 matchup vs. Texans: Hilton was back to his old tricks against the Texans two weeks ago, as he had eight receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown for 21 total points. Pittman Jr. (five receptions, 46 yards) added 7.1 points.
We already knew the Texans are without their top cornerback Bradley Roby, who was suspended for the remainder of the season prior to the Week 13 matchup against the Colts. Now they're going to be missing two more cornerbacks — Phillip Gaines and John Reid — for this game due to injuries. I don't know how to say this any clearer: GET T.Y. HILTON IN YOUR LINEUP. He's on a roll the last three weeks — including his huge performance two weeks ago against the Texans, and then his two-touchdown game last Sunday against the Raiders — and there's no reason to believe that can't continue today.
TEs Trey Burton, Mo Alie-Cox, Jack Doyle
» FanDuel Week 15 Position Rank: Burton TE25, Alie-Cox TE29, Doyle TE49
» Texans vs. TEs: 19th (10.7 FPPG)
» Week 13 matchup vs. Texans: Alie-Cox and Doyle combined for 5.5 points (four receptions for 35 yards).
Alie-Cox is questionable today with a knee injury, and the Colts' tight end group as a whole is so unpredictable from a fantasy perspective each week. I'd look elsewhere if you're in need of some last-minute help at the position.
Colts Defense/Special Teams
» FanDuel Week 15 Position Rank: DST8
» Texans vs. DSTs: 19th (8.1 FPPG)
» Week 13 matchup vs. Texans: The Indy defense had a solid day of playmaking, scoring 12 points thanks to one interception, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, five sacks and forcing a safety.
Deshaun Watson can only do so much, which was on full display two weeks ago against the Colts. He almost single-handedly willed the Texans to a come-from-behind win, but a low snap at the two-yard line with about a minute left to go would bounce away from the QB, and was recovered by linebacker Anthony Walker to seal the Colts' win. Indy's defense will have plenty of opportunities to have a repeat performance in this one today, and if the Colts' offense can keep its foot on the pedal in the second half (unlike two weeks ago in Houston), then I'd say this DST unit is a must-start.
Weekly NFL Fantasy Rankings from numberFire, a FanDuel company. Visit FanDuel to play daily fantasy sports contests.
