Texans know they need a new plan against T.Y. Hilton

T.Y. Hilton has pretty much owned them to this point, but the Houston Texans have a new plan to hold the Colts’ top wide receiver in check.

With an obvious nod to playing them twice a year in the AFC South, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton has played the Houston Texans a lot and has pretty much owned them.

In 14 regular season games against Houston, he has 76 receptions for 1,445 yards and nine touchdowns. Add in a playoff game, and those numbers are 81 catches for 1,530 yards with the nine touchdowns over 15 games.

If his numbers over 15 games against the Texans were over one full season, which he has essentially played against them, they’d be Hilton’s third-highest catch total, the highest yardage total and his highest touchdown total for a single season.

Hilton’s numbers are down a little so far this season, with 24 receptions (on 29 targets) for 232 yards and four touchdowns through four games played. Some of that can be attributed to a quad injury that cost him a game-plus, as well as the change to Jacoby Brissett under center after Andrew Luck’s retirement in late-August.

But heading into the first game of this season against the Colts on Sunday, the Texans clearly need to change something in order to contain Hilton. Via the Houston Chronicle, safety Justin Reid suggested a new plan (or a specific plan at all?) is indeed in place.

"That’s going to be one of the focuses for the week,” “He’s a talented guy. He’s had a lot of success against us in the past, so we’re going to change some things up to give him some different looks and play him a little bit differently than we did in the past in order to really take him out of the game plan to limit his exposure."

Cornerback Johnathan Joseph also spoke about defending Hilton.

"Just limit the big plays, obviously,” “You can’t let him get over the top, get behind the coverage, can’t let him get the catch-and-run plays. Anything you can do to limit the big plays, you have to challenge him from that standpoint."

It’s nice to have a plan to keep Hilton in-check. But the execution may prove difficult for Houston if their top two cornerbacks can’t go or are at less than full strength. Joseph missed Week 6 with a hamstring injury and has been limited in practice this week, while Bradley Roby is expected to miss a month after suffering a hamstring injury of his own last week. Safety Tashaun Gipson (hip, wrist) has also been banged up, but he has not missed any games.

Based on history, Hilton is in line for his best game of the season on Sunday. If you have him on a fantasy roster, he has to be locked into your Week 7 lineup in a very favorable matchup.

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