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This post comes from Justin Becker of FantasyFootballOverdose.com. You can follow him on Twitter @NBAandNFLInfoor on the Fantasy Football Overdose Google+ Page, and for more Indianapolis Colts Rumors and News visit Fantasy Football Overdose.
For the second time in three weeks, the Indianapolis Colts disappointed fantasy football owners. Anyone banking on Trent Richardson running all over his former team or the rest of the Colts torching the Cleveland Browns' secondary in week 14, well, they had another thing coming.
The worst part is it may have come in the early going of your fantasy playoffs. The good news is you may have made it to the next round despite Indy's lack of fantasy support and now you might actually be able to get some help from Colts players again in week 15.
To see just how much help you might be able to rely on, let's break down the Colts' week 15 matchup:
Air Strike
This is the fantasy football playoffs. I needn't go on and on about Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton being awesome, or how they torched the Houston Texans in their first meeting. They did, and they surely will again. This is the biggest week of the year for you and your fantasy squad, so don't get cute and try using Johnny Manziel over Luck. Luck is your guy, and Hilton should be locked into your starting lineup, too.
Beyond those two studs, things naturally can get tricky, although this week's matchup with the Texans certainly could bode well for anyone involved in Indy's passing game. Specifically, you're understandably considering using Reggie Wayne, Donte Moncrief, Dwayne Allen and/or Coby Fleener. Houston has been a bottom-10 unit against fantasy wide receivers over the past four games and ranks second to dead last against the position on the year. While that largely screams "yay!" for Hilton, that obviously puts Wayne and Moncrief in place to do well, too. I think both are worth using, but the sheer upside clearly resides with Moncrief at this point.
Tight end is actually a totally different story, as the Texans have been elite against tight ends on the year, allowing just 5.21 fantasy points per game against the position. As if it wasn't already hard enough to predict which Indy tight end would be worth using, now they also have a tough matchup. Judging by the first meeting between these two teams (neight caught more than three passes), you may want to look for a different option at tight end this week.
Tough Sledding?
On the season, Houston is just a middling unit against running backs, but over their last four games they've tightened up and rank eighth in the league. Considering they're going up against two pedestrian talents in Daniel Herron and Trent Richardson, I'd expect the latter ranking to stick. T-Rich is getting phased out slowly, but surely, so Herron is the only Colts running back you can use right now. However, with this matchup, he's probably nothing more than a quality Flex option.
Stopping Fitzmagic
Indy's defense has been the definition of inconsistent this year, as some games they look like the real deal and others they look completely lost. It seems their foundation comes and goes with star cornerback Vontae Davis, as the team has gotten torched typically when he's banged up. He might not play again this week, which could allow Ryan Fitzpatrick to have a big game.
Obviously if Fitzpatrick is hitting on throws to any degree, that's going to keep the door wide open for Arian Foster to mash the Colts on the ground, just like he did in the first meeting. Needless to say, while the Colts defense isn't necessarily the worst unit to use in fantasy circles this week, you probably can find a safer option.
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