Colts vs. Texans Week 8: Betting odds, final prediction

It may not feel like it, but the Indianapolis Colts have a winning record and sit as the second-place team in the AFC South through the first seven weeks of the NFL season.

After defeating the Miami Dolphins in an ugly 16-10 game, Indianapolis is 4-3 heading into its Week 8 contest against the 5-2 first-place Houston Texans .

In fact, the Colts have won four of their last five games. However, Indianapolis opened up the 2024 campaign with a 29-27 loss to Houston.

The Texans have clearly already shown that they can beat the Colts, and Houston has even won three of its last four games against its division foe.

Colts vs. Texans betting odds, final prediction

Despite a poor showing for Texans second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud in a Week 7 loss to the Green Bay Packers, BetMGM Sportsbook still favors Houston by five points this Sunday.

Much of that decision could boil down to the fact that the status of star Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is still up in the air, or it could be a result of Indianapolis' disappointing defense not being able to keep up with the Texans' explosive offense.

Even with WR1 Nico Collins on the injured reserve list, Houston's offense still sports wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell, running back Joe Mixon and Stroud.

Compare that to Indianapolis' offensive star power consisting of the inconsistent second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson, potential backup-turned-starting running back Tyler Goodson and wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., and the gap between the AFC South opponents is clear.

The over/under is set at 45.5 for the contest given the fact that the Colts average 22.1 PPG while the Texans average 23.6 PPG. It's safe to say that may be a bit of an underestimate after seeing Indianapolis and Houston trade 56 points in Week 1.

According to BetMGM's winning team model prediction , the Texans will win the game with 68.7% confidence while they are also expected to cover the spread with 57.9% confidence.