Indianapolis Colts @ Houston Texans 2011 NFL Free Pick

Indianapolis Colts @ Houston Texans 2011 NFL Free Pick: I just don’t know what good to expect from the Colts without Peyton Manning. I know they are more than Manning, but without him they are a very different team. His offensive coordinator has said for years, Peyton is basically the offensive coordinator on the football field, they just discuss things. Well, it’s Kerry Collins now, and if I was a Colt, a Colt’s fan, a Colt’s coach, or even an actual horse, I would be concerned with how ol’ faithful Kerry is going to do in Indy.

I guess this is when we’ll see if that O-line is really good or if Manning just makes super-quick decisions. We’ll see if the run game can produce any decent yardage with defenses keying in on it for once. We’ll also see if the Colts can put up big passing yards without their fearless leader at the helm. Apparently we’ll see a lot of stuff.

The Texans are always a darling of the “this is the year they do it” mantra, but could this actually be the year? Manning starts injured, the Jaguars just dumped David Garrard for Luke McCown. Matt Hasselbeck is starting for the Titans – this could be it, the ray of light! The Texans will be changing to a 3-4, which could make them more sound against the Colts. They picked up a solid corner, so now they have one. Foster is hurting, and might not play, but I think they’ll be able to run the ball enough. It’s scary to take them with this big of a line, but hey, I think they win by double digits so I’m in.

Indianapolis Colts @ Houston Texans (-8.5)