Who’s in for some T.Y. Hilton this week? He’s had a pretty lousy year, but he’s playing against his long-time favorite opponent today.
Hilton has played better against the Texans than any other opponent. He’s long had a history of coming up big against them. And some of those best games have come at Houston. Three times he’s gone for at least 175 yards in this building.
Since the Colts drafted him back in 2012, Hilton has played against the Texans 16 times. That’s exactly a season’s worth of action. And the numbers have been very good: 85 catches for 1,537 yards and 10 TDs.
I am not, of course, guaranteeing Hilton will catch 5-plus passes for 90-plus yards in this game. He hasn’t been having a great year. Some of that can perhaps be tied to his own decline; he’s 31 years old now – not as explosive as he’s been in the past. And Philip Rivers can probably take even more of the blame; he doesn’t seem to be very good at hitting on the deeper downfield throws that Hilton likes.
But Hilton still has some good ball left in him, I would say. And he’s coming off his first good game of the season (with his first touchdown of 2020 last week). If you’re in a pinch at wide receiver and sifting through modest prospects, I wouldn’t be opposed to taking a flyer on Hilton.
| T.Y. HILTON AGAINST HOUSTON | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Site | Result | Tgt | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 2012 | Hou. | L 17-29 | 6 | 3 | 78 | 26.0 | 1 |
| 2012 | Ind. | W 28-16 | 6 | 4 | 111 | 27.8 | 1 |
| 2013 | Hou. | W 27-24 | 12 | 7 | 121 | 17.3 | 3 |
| 2013 | Ind. | W 25-3 | 12 | 8 | 78 | 9.8 | 0 |
| 2014 | Hou. | W 33-28 | 9 | 9 | 223 | 24.8 | 1 |
| 2014 | Ind. | W 17-10 | 8 | 4 | 50 | 12.5 | 0 |
| 2015 | Hou. | W 27-20 | 9 | 5 | 88 | 17.6 | 0 |
| 2015 | Ind. | L 10-16 | 5 | 3 | 29 | 9.7 | 0 |
| 2016 | Hou. | L 23-26 | 9 | 3 | 49 | 16.3 | 0 |
| 2016 | Ind. | L 17-22 | 13 | 9 | 115 | 12.8 | 1 |
| 2017 | Hou. | W 20-14 | 9 | 5 | 175 | 35.0 | 2 |
| 2017 | Ind. | W 22-13 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 4.7 | 0 |
| 2018 | Ind. | L 34-37 | 6 | 4 | 115 | 28.8 | 0 |
| 2018 | Hou. | W 24-21 | 12 | 9 | 199 | 22.1 | 0 |
| 2019 | Ind. | W 30-23 | 11 | 6 | 74 | 12.3 | 1 |
| 2019 | Hou. | L 17-20 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 6.0 | 0 |
—Ian Allan