Colts-Texans opening odds: Early look has the home team as 1.5 point underdogs

The Colts aren’t getting the home field advantage nod in the season opener.

The Indianapolis Colts are set to take on the Houston Texans to kick off the NFL’s opening week from Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts opponent to close the 2023 season is the same to open in 2024. With an offseason in between, things will look different between the two clubs, but these franchises know each other well. DraftKings Sportsbook has this as a close one but is giving the Texans a 1.5 point edge in the spread.

The opening money line sits at +102 for the Colts with the over/under at 48.

While many of the players for the Colts will return in this matchup, there was one noticeable absence from last year: Anthony Richardson. As good as Gardner Minshew was for the team, you can’t tell me Richardson wouldn’t have made a few more plays in the game to secure the win. Needing one yard, Richardson would have been a tough man to stop on the ground. Nevertheless, he will be back in a big way, and the Colts will be looking to get the taste of that loss out of their mouths immediately.

The Texans will look different too. They lost some players but have also added some good ones in key positions. Danielle Hunter coming off the edge and Stefon Diggs lined up outside make the Texans a scary group. Reunited from their days in Minnesota, this duo will look to create havoc in the AFC South. Oh, and C.J. Stroud still suits up for the team. He was absolutely lights out as a rookie. Will he take a leap in his second year, or will we witness a sophomore slump?

The NFL has moved to mostly divisional matchups to open the season in recent years, and I think it is a good thing. It provides a high level of intensity as games within the division hold that much more importance. Neither team wants to start the year in a game and a half hole. I expect these two teams to come out firing and to battle it out all season long for AFC South supremacy.