On Saturday, the Indianapolis Colts travel to Houston to take on the AFC South champion Texans in a rubber match. The Texans beat the Colts in September, and the Colts returned the favor in December, and as always the biggest game is the next one. The Colts have been led here by Andrew Luck and some outstanding offensive line play, while the Texans are here by virtue of an opportunistic defense and DeAndre Hopkins, one of the NFL's best receivers right now.

Here's how to watch the Texans host the Colts on Saturday.

Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans

  • Date: Saturday, Jan. 5
  • Time: 4:35 p.m. ET
  • Location: NRG Stadium, Houston
  • Channel: ABC
  • Stream: WatchESPN
  • Odds: Texans (-1)

Expert picks

The CBS Sports panel of experts has the Colts across the board, and that's partially because the Colts counter everything the Texans do well. They can negate a great pass rush and they have a No. 1 receiver capable of shredding a secondary, plus defensively they can create some pressure and keep Watson uncomfortable. The Texans may have taken the division, but the Colts have the talent and the depth to go on the road and take a win to get a crack at the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round.

Click here to see our full picks for the Wild Card Weekend.

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What to expect

In each of these teams' previous two meetings, the road team won in a three-point game. The Colts are going to keep building on the formula they've used all season: Keep Andrew Luck on his feet and get stops on defense. The Colts are tied for tenth in the NFL in takeaways this season, but Luck has been sacked a league-low 18 times this year.

On the other side, the Texans need to find a way to offer protection for Deshaun Watson, who is on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. Watson has been sacked a league-high 62 times this season, including five sacks the last time these teams met. Hopkins was mostly held in check in that meeting, so he'll look to improve upon his four catches for 36 yards last game.

The bottom line is, to reach into the old cliche machine, this game will be won in the trenches. Last time these teams played, Marlon Mack and Lamar Miller finished with just 33 yards apiece, so expect another air raid. The Texans will be leaning on J.J. Watt to lead the pass rush after he picked up 16 sacks on the year, with Jadeveon Clowney complementing him with his nine sacks. For the Colts, the onus is on a line anchored by Quenton Nelson at the guard position to keep Luck safe in the pocket. 

On the other side, the Texans offensive line has to do something to protect Watson. Texans fans watching this team must be getting shades of David Carr, who holds the record for most times sacked in a season. Watson is doing the best he can, but in the playoffs, one or two ill-timed sacks can be a death knell. Darius Leonard is already a premier NFL linebacker, and Denico Autry finished tops on the team with nine sacks. That should be the Texans' biggest concern this week.

Where the Texans can get Luck into trouble is by creating turnovers. Luck has 15 picks on the year, tied for the second most in the league behind Ben Roethlisberger's 16. The Texans defense is fourth in turnovers forced at 29, including 15 interceptions of their own. Safeties Justin Reid and Andre Hal lead the team in picks with three, with all three of Hal's coming in the month of December. He's coming in hot.

As with any divisional matchup, these teams are going to have to do something different to win. Whether that's by targeting someone other than T.Y. Hilton (who had 199 receiving yards when the Colts last played the Texans in NRG) and Hopkins or trying to commit to the ground game a bit more, these teams will definitely switch things up to cause some havoc. It won't be easy for either of them, but they've both defied the odds to some extent to get here. No one was sure about Luck's status prior to the season, but they've built something good around him, and the Texans started the year 0-3 before rattling off wins in 11 of their last 13.