INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts (9-4) on Sunday play host to the Houston Texans (4-9) for the second time in three weeks, this time at Lucas Oil Stadium — and, accordingly, it's time to take a look at the team's unofficial depth chart for the game.
Here is a position-by-position look for the Texans matchup, with some notes for each unit:
OFFENSE
» WR: T.Y. Hilton, Michael Pittman Jr., Dezmon Patmon
» LT: Anthony Castonzo, Chaz Green
» LG: Quenton Nelson
» C: Ryan Kelly, Danny Pinter
» RG: Mark Glowinski
» RT: Braden Smith, Will Holden
» TE: Jack Doyle, Trey Burton
» TE: Mo Alie-Cox
» WR: Zach Pascal, DeMichael Harris
» WR: Marcus Johnson, Ashton Dulin
» QB: Philip Rivers, Jacoby Brissett, Jacob Eason
» RB: Jonathan Taylor, Nyheim Hines, Jordan Wilkins
Notes:
» The shuffle along the Colts' offensive line in last Sunday's huge Week 14 road victory over the Las Vegas Raiders was really one of the more notable storylines in terms of the depth chart/playing time. Left tackle Anthony Castonzo suffered that sprained MCL early in the second quarter of the Week 12 loss to the Tennessee Titans and didn't return, and ended up missing the following week's win on the road against the Texans, and somehow was able to figure out a way to return against the Raiders. But very early in the ballgame, Castonzo was seen walking to the locker room with team trainers, causing a bit of a shuffle up front. First, the Colts utilized reserve Chaz Green at left tackle, and then on their next drive, they really mixed things up. Quenton Nelson, Indy's First-Team All-Pro left guard the last two seasons, moved over to left tackle for the first time in his career (according to Pro Football Focus, Nelson never even played a single left tackle snap while at Notre Dame), and then veteran Joey Hunt, who had spent most of the season on the practice squad, filled in at left guard. That reworked left side of the offensive line held its own — the Raiders threw the kitchen sink at them to try to get pressure, but to no avail — until Castonzo was eventually able to return.
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DEFENSE
» DE: Justin Houston, Ben Banogu, Kemoko Turay
» DT: DeForest Buckner, Tyquan Lewis
» NT: Grover Stewart, Taylor Stallworth
» DE: Denico Autry, Al-Quadin Muhammad
» WLB: Darius Leonard, Matthew Adams
» MLB: Anthony Walker, Zaire Franklin
» SAM: Bobby Okereke, E.J. Speed
» CB: Rock Ya-Sin, T.J. Carrie
» FS: Julian Blackmon, George Odum
» SS: Khari Willis, Tavon Wilson
» N: Kenny Moore II, Isaiah Rodgers
» CB: Xavier Rhodes, Tremon Smith
Notes:
» Bobby Okereke returned to the lineup last Sunday against the Raiders after missing two straight games with an ankle injury; in those two games, both Darius Leonard and Anthony Walker played all 100 percent of the defensive snaps at linebacker, while Zaire Franklin also got into the mix a little bit. Against Las Vegas, Leonard likely would've played most, if not all, of the defensive snaps again if not for a back injury he suffered late in the contest, but he finished at 78 percent (53 defensive snaps overall), while Okereke was at 50 defensive snaps (74 percent), Walker was at 41 defensive snaps (60 percent) and Franklin played four defensive snaps (six percent).
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SPECIALISTS
» P: Rigoberto Sanchez
» PK: Rodrigo Blankenship
» H: Rigoberto Sanchez
» LS: Luke Rhodes
» KR: Isaiah Rodgers
» PR: Nyheim Hines, Isaiah Rodgers
Notes:
» No changes this week compared to last week. Head coach Frank Reich indicated late last week that punter Rigoberto Sanchez, who on Dec. 1 had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, is doing very well, and could even return to game action this season. In his place, Ryan Allen has punted six times for 276 yards (46.0 avg.), with two kicks downed inside the 20-yard line.
