Indianapolis Colts Week 6 Fantasy Football Preview

This post comes from Justin Becker of FantasyFootballOverdose.com. You can follow him on Twitter @NBAandNFLInfo or on the Fantasy Football Overdose Google+ Page, and for more NFL Fantasy Projections visit Fantasy Football Overdose.

The Indianapolis Colts have been on quite a run since starting off the 2014 NFL season in an 0-2 hole. Since then, they've dropped two blowouts on the Jaguars and Titans and notched a hard-earned week five win over the Ravens to give them three straight victories.

As you may have guessed, Indy's solid run of late also has helped out league managers in fantasy football leagues. The question many are wondering, however, is if that streak will run into the week six battle with the Houston Texans.

It's one you'll have to answer quickly, as the Colts get rolling this week on Thursday Night Football. With the short week demanding your fantasy lineup decisions a little earlier than you'd like, let's break down their week six matchup to see which Colts players you can feel good about using this week:

Fire Up Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw

While T-Rich has been his sluggish self and Bradshaw has been a little hit or miss, using one of these guys isn't a bad idea against a Texans defense that can be run on. DeMarco Murray had a field day in week five and we've seen other backs have solid success against the league's 25th ranked run defense. It's worth noting that the Texans have only allowed three rushing scores on the year, but with an average clip of 132.2 rushing yards being allowed on the ground per game, they're a unit to target.

Trusting either player's role isn't an easy thing to do, but Bradshaw out-touched Richardson 19-13 last week and should start doing that more often. He simply is the more effective back. Look for him to be the Indy running back to use on TNF this week.

Andrew Luck Should Be Ready to Rock

Few fantasy quarterbacks are more reliable than Luck right now, as Indy's franchise passer has now topped 300+ passing yards in four of five games on the year. In addition, he hasn't totaled less than two touchdowns in any game and has three or more in three of them. Luck is as consistent as it gets and it may only get better in week six, as Luck takes on a Texans pass defense that is just 21st in the league. They've given up seven touchdowns through the air and are allowing more than 250 passing yards per game, giving Luck another shot at solid fantasy numbers. Even if they were a stingy unit, it's hard to see Luck coming up lame in such a big divisional game.

Indy's Defense is a Toss-up

You'd like to think the Colts are a solid play in the team defense slot this week, given a somewhat tasty matchup with Ryan Fitzpatrick. You might be wrong. Indy is only average against the pass this year, while their numbers against the run might be a bit misleading, too. After all, they appear to be a top-15 unit (12th, actually), but they're still allowing over 100 rushing yards per game, 4.6 yards per carry and have given up five scores on the ground.

The jist? Arian Foster is probably as safe as ever coming off an amazing week five. The Colts are also on the road and divisional battles are never easy to predict. It all adds up to you using another team defense in fantasy football this week.

Be Weary of Thursday Night Football

It's always wise to pay attention to matchups, player performance, role, potential and any kind of trend, but sometimes it all ends up meaning nothing on Thursday Night Football. With three straight awful blowouts the past three weeks, TNF is loudly exposing the fact that one or both teams don't come into these short-week contests at 100%. Whether they're not at full health, tired or just ill prepared, one of these teams is bound to come out flat and get slapped around.

That could be bad news for fantasy football owners - if you pick the wrong side. For instance, if you used fantasy options on the Falcons or Giants the past two weeks (Larry Donnell, anyone?), you probably did pretty well. It really even stretches to all five TNF games of the year, too, as the Seahawks and Ravens handled the Packers and Steelers pretty easily in the first two weeks, and Green Bay was the latest to do the Thursday night dumping on the Vikings in a 42-10 bashing.

Why would this week be any different? Ultimately, the key may not be in picking the right players to roll with, but the right team. So far, in every TNF game, it's been an easier call than you think, as the better team has simply put a hurting on their opponent. In this case, the Colts appear to be the superior team. They have a better quarterback, at least. It's in Houston and the Texans are a worthy opponent, but if you have to pick a side, it's Indianapolis.

Editor's Note: FanDuel is hosting a private fantasy football League for SBNation readers this week. It's $10 to join, the top 200 teams win money, and first place wins $1,000. League starts Sunday 1 PM ET and ends on Monday. Here's the link.