SportsRadio 610 AM host Marc Vandermeer, "The Voice of the Houston Texans," joined Nick Scurfield of HoustonTexans.com on Friday for an interview to preview the Texans-Colts Week 9 matchup at Indianapolis. Following is an excerpt from their discussion.
Nick Scurfield:A lot of people are calling this the biggest game in Texans history. Do you agree with that?
Marc Vandermeer: I would say yes – until the next game. Because I think every game is going to build. It's going to be a layering process, a brick-by-brick building process. Because if they're going to go where we think they can go, and that's to possibly 10-6 or better, playoff berth, whatever, there will be bigger games down the line. But as of right now, I've never had a situation like this where you're looking at a 5-3 Texans team. They've never been two games above .500 this late. You're going on the road to play your arch-villain that owns you. This is the biggest game in Texans history. There's a lot of buildup here. Yes, I would sign off on the biggest game in Texans history.
Nick Scurfield:The Texans have never won at Indianapolis (0-7 there since coming into the league in 2002). What do they have to do to get over that hump?
Marc Vandermeer: In a lot of these games at Indianapolis, they've fallen behind. It's killer, because you've got (Robert) Mathis and (Dwight) Freeney coming off the edge, and it's terrible. So they can't get off to a bad start. It would behoove them to score first. Not that the Colts are going to panic, because they won't panic with Peyton Manning, but at least it would change the game a little bit. If they can get any kind of running game going, perhaps score first, get a little lead and play that way, obviously it increases your chances. There've been games at Indianapolis where they've turned it over on the first possession, all of a sudden you're handing the ball to Peyton Manning in the red zone and voila, there you have it, the Colts are on top and you're playing on your heels the rest of the game.
For more, including Vandermeer's thoughts on the Texans' running back situation, how the Texans might slow down Peyton Manning and his prediction for the game, click **here** to listen to the full interview in a HoustonTexans.com podcast.
