Neither the Texans nor the Colts were on many lists of playoff contenders when they first butted heads this season and the winner of Saturday night’s game between the teams will be going to the playoffs , which is a good way of underscoring how far both teams have come since mid-September.
The Colts won the Week Two matchup between the teams by a 31-20 score, but Anthony Richardson started at quarterback and ran for two of their touchdowns. Richardson’s season is over and Texans rookie wideout Tank Dell, who scored a touchdown that day, is also out for the year, which is part of the reason why Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans downplayed any attempt to read something from that game into the one the teams will play this weekend.
“We’re a completely different team, they’re a completely different team,” Ryans said, via Jonathan M. Alexander of the Houston Chronicle. “For us, I don’t really put much weight on the first game of the year. I start watching and I’m like, ‘Man, who is this team? ’ It seems like that was so long ago, playing that second game.”
Ryans called the game a “fresh start” for both teams and it will make for a happy ending for either Ryans or Colts head coach Shane Steichen as they wrap up their first years in their respective roles.
