NFL Picks Week 1: 5 Reasons Texans Are Favorites to Beat Colts

The Houston Texans have a Week 1 matchup against their division rival Indianapolis Colts and they should be the favorites heading into the game.

The Texans had a busy offseason with free agent acquisitions, (CB Johnathan Joseph, S Danieal Manning), a new look defense implemented by new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, and draft picks getting a chance to shine in big roles on the new defense.

Now the wait is over and it is time for the truth to come out.

Here are five reasons the Texans should be favorites to beat Indianapolis in Week 1.

1. No Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning is officially out of Sunday's season opener against the Houston Texans.

This is absolutely huge. Manning has been the face of the franchise for the longest time and will be ending an impressive 227 games started streak.

Without Manning, there is no telling what the Colts offense will look like.

They will really look for a big game from RB Joseph Addai and will hope new starting QB Kerry Collins can limit his mistakes and take care of the football.

Even then, it will be tough for this Colts offense to go on without Manning.

Yes, the New England Patriots did it without Tom Brady with Matt Cassel's coming out season, leading the Patriots to an 11-win season.

However, the difference is that with Collins, we know what to expect. He is a 38-year-old QB who had a hard time winning games with Tennesse, something the Colts will expect to do.

His stats were not too bad with a 14-8 TD-INT ratio last season.

However, the Colts do not have Chris Johnson to hand off to. This offense is built around the QB position because of Peyton Manning.

Kerry Collins does not have the ability any more to lead a team and fill the shoes that Manning leaves empty.

2. The Texans' Pass-Rush

The Texans have a new 3-4 defense under defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, and they will look to put the QB on his back.

In the draft, the Texans picked up a pair of very good pass-rushers.

DE J.J. Watt will look to be a force coming off the edge. He has the skill, strength, and quickness to get to the QB. He plays with an incredibly high motor, and I have predicted he will win the Defensive Rookie of the Year.

He had 20.5 tackles for a loss last season to go along with seven sacks for Wisconsin.

The Texans also picked up LB Brooks Reed in the second round.

He is another guy with a high motor and is very quick coming off the edge. He will look to be a force for Houston and wreck havoc in the backfield.

Mario Williams is making the jump from DE to OLB and he has the ability to do it. Mario Williams has great intangibles and athleticism to make a very good transition and produce as an NFL LB.

The LB core is also very deep.

Not only do they have Reed and Williams, the Texans have former defensive Rookie of the Years in LB DeMeco Ryans and LB Brian Cushing. Both are coming off injuries and look to return to the form that people expect them to be in.

LB Xavier Adibi is also another great option to rush the QB and adds to the depth Houston has at the position.

This defense will be licking its chops and rookie OL Anthony Castonzo will have his first test in the NFL.

Kerry Collins will feel the heat and the Texans are hoping to force him to make a few bad passes.

3. Rushing Attack

If you have Arian Foster on your fantasy team, you should be a little worried about his hamstring injury.

If you do not have him on your team and are a Houston Texans fan, then you should not be worried.

This Texans offense has a history of getting a lot of production from the RB position.

In limited time last season, backup Derrick Ward averaged over six yards per carry last season and proved to be very capable at replacing Foster.

Ben Tate was a second-round pick last season out of Auburn. He was due to be the starter until he got hurt and Foster got the starting job.

Tate showed he still has what it takes with his impressive preseason game against the New Orleans Saints.

Tate is a very quick and powerful runner, and he can come in and produce for Houston in Foster's absence. 

The Colts had one of the worse rushing defenses last year. They ranked eighth worse in the NFL last season. Just ahead of Carolina and Detroit.

They tried DT Tommie Harris but he has been released already. Other than that move, the Colts did not do much to improve this rushing defense.

The Texans look to take full advantage of this to win the time of possession battle and set up some play-action plays for QB Matt Shaub and WR Andre Johnson.

4. Passing Attack

QB Matt Shaub is going to have a lot of weapons at his disposal this year.

WR Andre Johnson is an absolute man. His success and skills are well documented. However, it is the supporting cast around Johnson and Shaub that makes this offense so dangerous.

TE Owen Daniels is looking to finally be healthy. He was on the cusp of being an elite NFL TE in 2008 before injuries slowed down his 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Despite the injuries, Daniels still averaged over 12 yards per catch last season in 10 starts.

If healthy, Daniels gives Shaub a nice target in the middle of the field.

If he is not healthy, TE/FB James Casey will be someone who has the ability to take his place.

The Rice Owl product has above average athleticism for his position and has very good hands. He can produce and looks to be a big part of this offense, especially if Daniels is hurt.

The secondary receivers for Houston are also very good.

WR Kevin Walters has been a great option for Shaub over the years. He always seems to be the guy that gets open when a play breaks down.

WR Jacoby Jones is an incredible athlete and is very fast. With Johnson commanding so much attention opposite of him, Jones will look for some favorable match ups and can have a break out season this year.

Shaub is also amongst the best in the NFL in making smart passes under pressure. He is great at making reads and checking down to his TE, RB or slot receiver. So if the Colts can get pressure, expect guys like Daniels and Walters to get a lot of touches.

The Texans also are very effective at running the bootleg as well. That should help slow down the pass-rushers of Indianapolis.

5. Much Improved Secondary

Last year, rookie CB Kareem Jackson took a lot of heat. The first-round pick of Houston had a very disappointing 2010 season.

A lot of people do not feel like he deserves to be the No. 2 CB opposite of free-agent acquisition Johnathan Joseph.

However, I feel he deserves a second chance and can be very successful.

Jackson was thrown to the wolves last season and was asked to be the No. 1 CB. He had to guard the top WR of each team in the NFL last season.

Also, Houston's safety group was not very good last year. S Benard Pollard was a good tackler and playmaker, but he was a coverage liability.

Now Houston has a new look secondary.

They bring in Joseph to be the new number one CB. This takes a lot of heat off of Jackson to perform.

Houston also signed S Danieal Manning out of Chicago and will move Glover Quinn to his natural position of safety.

This should give Jackson some good insurance behind him and give him a better chance to succeed.

Houston also has depth at CB so even if Jackson is unable to perform, CB Jason Allen has really performed well this preseason and training camp