Tackling, Nico Collins and game-defining…

What is the Texans’ offense without Nico Collins?

We’ll see if Collins, who missed Week 2 with a hamstring injury and did not participate in practice Wednesday or Thursday, is able to suit up on Sunday.

It’s probably not this reductive, but Houston scored 31 points with Collins in Week 1 (against the Buffalo Bills) and six points without Collins in Week 2 (against the Bengals). Montgomery and running back Woody Marks combined for 102 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries in Week 1; in Week 2, they combined for 18 yards on 14 carries.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud, meanwhile, attempted a career high 55 passes in Week 2 against the Bengals and had just a 74.3 passer rating. Houston’s offense, needless to say, was completely out of whack in Week 2.

Whether Collins plays or not on Sunday, though, the Colts are expecting the Texans’ offense to be nowhere near as anemic as it was last weekend. Plus, this is a defense with its own issues to fix: The Colts enter Week 3 last in the NFL in yards allowed per game, yards allowed per play and points allowed per game.

Granted, the Colts have those stats after facing Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, but that’s hardly an excuse you’ll hear around 56th Street.

“Everybody’s got good players. Those two guys are, as you mentioned, in my opinion, first-ballot Hall of Famers,” Anarumo said. “But still no excuse. We have to go out there and perform at a better level, and in crunch time, make sure we make the plays that need to be made. And make the plays that are there to be made. I think there’s plenty of plays on Sunday night where our players, myself – and it starts with me obviously, but all of us together, we’re in this as a collective unit. Not just the players. It’s not the coaches. It’s us together, and I think that we are all taking that collective approach to improve. Each meeting, each practice, certainly each play in every game. So that’s our approach, and that’s how we’ll continue to go at this thing.”

How will the Colts handle Houston’s defense?

The Texans’ defense could tell itself a similar story to the Colts, in that they enter Week 3 allowing 28 points per game (T-26th) and 6.1 yards per play (27th) after facing Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills and Joe Burrow’s Cincinnati Bengals. Those results certainly do not match preseason expectations for the Texans, who many national analysts pegged as not just having a great defense, but a defense that could be the best of its generation.

Two games against top-tier quarterbacks, then, did not change how the Colts view Houston’s defense.

“All three levels they’ve got playmakers,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “They can get after the passer. They’ve got good DBs, good linebackers. So, it’ll be a good challenge for us, but confident in our group.”

Jones was not sacked in the Colts’ Week 2 loss to the Chiefs, but the challenge in Week 3 will be different. Kansas City’s focus is generating pressure on exotic blitzes, while Houston is able to crush the pocket with a four-man rush headlined by defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.

While the Chiefs and Texans’ strategies are different, though, the Colts’ plan remains the same: Be efficient on early downs and don’t get pinned into second- or third-and-long situations.

“They’re really good when they can pin their ears back and rush,” Jones said. “I think yeah, staying ahead of the chains, staying on schedule, being able to run the ball – and I think we did that well last week, and continue to try to emphasize that.”

Another challenge for the Colts will be stretching the field without speedy wide receivers Alec Pierce (heel) and Ashton Dulin (ankle) against a talented, cohesive Houston secondary. Darius Slayton was signed earlier this week to add downfield juice to the Colts’ offense – 18 of his 22 career touchdown receptions went for 20 or more yards – but how quickly he can be deployed in Sunday’s gameplan remains to be seen.