Fantasy Football Week 5: Start, Sit Advice For Colts-Texans ‘Thursday Night Football’

“Thursday Night Football” provides some of the worst matchups each week of the NFL season, and that’s true in Week 5.

This week’s game is an AFC South showdown between the Indianapolis Colts (2-2) and Houston Texans (1-3). Both teams have failed to meet expectations through four games, and that includes individual fantasy football goals.

Which players should you start and sit on your fantasy team from this matchup? Find out below.

Indianapolis Colts
Quarterbacks: Don’t play any of the Colts quarterbacks, either Andrew Luck or Matt Hasselbeck. The Colts announced Wednesday that both players are questionable with injuries, and in the case of Luck, it’s an issue that forced him to miss the Week 4 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Texans defense has given up just 227 yards passing and a 57.1 completion percentage per game this season. Houston also has one of the best defensive fronts and will put pressure on the quarterback.

Neither player is trustworthy because of the injuries and less-than-stellar matchup.

Running Backs: Frank Gore is worth playing. He leads the Colts with 227 rush yards and two touchdowns. He became more involved in the passing game with Luck out of the lineup. His five receptions for 34 yards against the Jaguars were season highs, and if Luck doesn’t play Thursday, Gore is a smart start, particularly in PPR leagues.

Wide Receivers: Andre Johnson has been a huge disappointment and shouldn’t be started in any league, regardless of who’s playing quarterback. T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief are worthy of starts as flex plays in most leagues. Hilton was targeted 13 times from Hasselbeck in Week 4, while Moncrief was thrown to nine times. These are the two best targets in the Colts passing game, and since the rushing attack has struggled, expect plenty of targets for both of these players all season.

Defense: The Texans throw the ball a lot and have tallied the fifth-most passing yards. The Colts rank 32nd in turnover differential with just three takeaways on the season and a pass rush that fails to consistently pressure the opposing QB. Do not start the Colts defense this week.

Houston Texans
Quarterbacks: Ryan Mallett shouldn’t be started in any league. Period. He has three touchdowns, three interceptions and an average of 195 passing yards through four games. That’s not very good.

Running Backs: Arian Foster returned last week after missing the first three weeks with an injury. He wasn’t very effective, though, with just 10 yards on eight attempts against a so-so Atlanta Falcons defense. Foster still is a really good player, he’s another week removed from his injury and the Colts defense has given up 119 rush yards per game, which ranks 25th out of 32 teams. Foster is worth a start as a flex in most leagues, especially PPR ones.

Wide Receivers: DeAndre Hopkins has been one of the best receivers in the league this season and obviously should be started in every fantasy format. Cecil Shorts and Nate Washignton only should be used as flex plays in very deep leagues.

Defense: The Texans rank 12th in pass defense and 23rd in run defense. They also have just two interceptions and six sacks, which isn’t great. Sure, a potential matchup against a third-string quarterback is enticing, but you should be able to do better than the Houston defense in Week 5.

Thumbnail photo via Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports Images