T.Y. Hilton, Zach Pascal quiet in Colts loss to Texans

The Indianapolis Colts offense was quieted for the most part in Week 12, with the Houston Texans holding them off en route to a 20-17 victory on Thursday Night Football. Running back Jonathan Williams had a solid game as the bell cow back, rushing 26 times for 104 yards and a touchdown, but the passing game stumbled along.

The Colts welcomed wide receiver T.Y. Hilton back from a calf injury, and it was clear he had rust to shake off. The coaching staff had him on a pitch count, as he played only 37 percent of the team’s offensive snaps. Zach Pascal led the wide receivers playing 88 percent of snaps and Chester Rogers was next at 61 percent of snaps.

Hilton led the team in targets (6) and finished with three catches for 18 yards, resulting in 4.8 DKFP. He had some drops and looked like a guy who had not played in a few weeks. Meanwhile, Pascal had no catches on one target and Rogers had one catch for 12 yards, resulting in 2.2 DKFP. Tight end Eric Ebron led the team with four receptions for 44 yards, finishing with 8.4 DKFP.

This seemed like a great matchup coming into the game. The Texans were one of the worst teams defending wide receivers, and yet their defense made the Colts lives fairly miserable. Hilton will bounce back, and the passing offense gets a solid matchup in Week 13 when they face the 22nd ranked Titans pass defense. I suspect Hilton will be fine to start next week against Tennessee.

For the time being, Hilton is likely the only Colts wide receiver worth starting in fantasy football. Until Zach Pascal or Chester Rogers shows they can be productive alongside Hilton, they aren’t worth playing.