Black- and Whitelist » Thompson during a breakaway.

HOUSTON - The top spot in the AFC South will be on the line when Houston native Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts shoot for their fourth straight win when they take on the Texans at NRG Stadium. The defending division champion Colts have rebounded from a slow 0-2 start with three consecutive wins, including last weekends 20-13 triumph over Baltimore. Indianapolis has also generally dominated the Texans over the years, winning three consecutive games in the rivalry and compiling a gaudy 20-4 overall record against Houston. Meanwhile, the Colts have also excelled on short weeks, winning nine straight games when playing on Thursday despite the lack of preparation time. Its annoying for players, Texans star running back Arian Foster said this week when asked about playing on Thursday. I dont know one player that likes it. I really dont know a fan that likes it, either. I think its just the leagues way of trying to generate more revenue. Nobody is ready to play physically after a Sunday game. But youve got to go out there and do it. No team has figured out how to do it better than the Colts, who are 11-1-1 in Thursday games. The only thing trending in Houstons direction is the fact that the home team has won four of the first five Thursday matchups in 2014. Last weekend Luck passed for a touchdown and ran for another score against the Ravens, connecting on 32-of-49 passes for 312 yards, his fourth 300-yard passing performance in five tries this season. The only negative aspect of the ledger for Luck was two interceptions. Ahmad Bradshaw added 68 yards on the ground but his fumble inside two minutes left nearly cost the game for the Colts. Its huge to survive our mistakes in a sense, said Luck. Its the epitome of a team football game, of a defense lifting us up in a sense. We made our plays enough to get a win obviously. The Texans, meanwhile, are coming off a tough loss in Dallas, losing a Lone Star State matchup with the Cowboys in overtime. Dan Bailey kicked the game-winning 49-yard field goal in the extra frame to lift Dallas. The Texans had scored the last 10 points of regulation to force OT, but punted on the opening possession of the extra session. The Cowboys DeMarco Murray picked up 11 yards on a 3rd-and-1, and on an ensuing 3rd-and-8, Tony Romo lofted a rainbow along the left sideline for Dez Bryant. Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph had tight coverage on Bryant, who ran a stop-and-go route, but Bryant was able to reach over top of his helmet to make a spectacular grab. It was the play of the game, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said. I dont know if theres a better guy in the league that can make those kind of contested catches than Dez Bryant. Bailey, who missed a 53-yard field goal on the final play of regulation to snap his streak of 30 consecutive field goals, was able to split the uprights this time from the left hash with 7:45 on the clock. Foster carried the ball 23 times for 157 yards and two scores for the Texans (3-2), who have dropped two of three since beginning the year 2-0. Our defense did a good job of holding us in there, Texans head coach Bill OBrien said. We just didnt do enough offensively. Ryan Fitzpatrick was 16-of-25 for 154 yards with an interception, DeAndre Hopkins caught six passes for 63 yards and Andre Johnson hauled in five balls for 58 yards in defeat. No loss feels good, but, like I said, we have a quick turnaround, OBrien continued. Weve got to get better, and weve got to get better fast because we havent played a division game yet and we have a very big division game coming up on Thursday night in front of our home fans. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Luck and the Colts have gotten fat over the past three weeks thanks to a fortuitous turn in their schedule with two lightly-regarded opponents -- Jacksonville and Tennessee -- followed by a home game against Baltimore. That said you can only play who is put in front of you and Indianapolis has handled its business, outscoring those three opponents by a combined 105-47 margin or by an average of 35-16. The Colts defense, which allowed 409.5 yards per game in the first two games of the season, has settled down and surrendered only 297.3 per game since. The unit mustered just one sack and one turnover in the first two and had generated 11 sacks and nine takeaways during its three-game run with outside linebacker Bjoern Werner registering a career-high two sacks last weekend. The good thing about the Colts is that were very familiar with them, Texans tackle Duane Brown said. Of course you have a different game plan than weve had in years past, but as far as the personnel and things like that we kind of know what to expect. Of course, the real strength of the Colts lies in their QB, Luck, who pilots an offense that is second overall in the NFL with 439.6 YPG and tops in passing offense (321.8 YPG). Luck himself leads the NFL with 1,617 passing yards and 14 touchdowns but the free thrower is also tops in interceptions with six. With seven catches for 77 yards against the Ravens, veteran Indy wide receiver Reggie Wayne (13,950) surpassed Hall of Famer Cris Carter for the ninth-most receiving yards of all-time. Wayne needs 55 yards against the Texans to surpass another Hall of Famer, James Lofton, for eighth place. Wayne will also look to extend his streak of impressive performances against AFC South opponents. Since divisional realignment in 2002, Wayne leads all active players in receptions (376) and receiving yards (5,077) against his own division. The impressive Houston defense is led by All-Pro defensive lineman J.J. Watt, who has two sacks, three batdowns, an interception return for a TD, and an NFL- high 16 QB hits through five outings, and leads the NFL with 12 takeaways. Safeties Kendrick Lewis and D.J. Swearinger both have three forced fumbles, tied for the most in the NFL, and inside linebacker Brian Cushing leads the unit with 45 tackles. Offensively the Texans will continue to rely on their own veteran receiver, Johnson, who needs just 19 receiving yards to become the 15th player in NFL history to reach 13,000, as well as Foster, who leads the AFC since 2010 with 5,210 rushing yards and 45 touchdowns, including 752 yards (125.3 per game) and six touchdowns in six career matchups against Indianapolis. OVERALL ANALYSIS History says the Colts are usually the better prepared team on a short week and there is little reason to expect that to change this time around. Indianapolis has never lost on NFL Networks Thursday Night Football, posting a 7-0 record dating back to 2007 with six of those seven wins coming on the road. You realize once the game starts, its football, said Luck. Theres no use complaining or whining about anything. Its what you do. Sports Network predicted outcome: Colts 24, Texans 17 Greg Maddux Braves Jersey . -- Athletics manager Bob Melvin is already starting to run out of superlatives to describe Scott Kazmir. Grant Dayton Jersey . With their coach gone, they finally played offence the way he would have wanted. Amare Stoudemire made all seven shots in the first half, Anthony passed and shot well, and the Knicks shook off the surprising departure of their coach to rout the Portland Trail Blazers 121-79 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak. https://www.cheapbraves.com/2373o-sean-n...sey-braves.html. "I honestly dont know," he said. Try this: 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds by Rajon Rondo, a 62-37 rebounding advantage by the Celtics and a horrible 4-for-30 shooting performance on 3-pointers by the Nets. Mark Melancon Jersey . Betancourt was 2-5 with a 4.08 ERA and 16 saves for the Rockies last season before tearing a ligament in his pitching elbow. He considered undergoing platelet-rich plasma therapy to fix his arm, but announced in August his decision to have Tommy John surgery. Hank Aaron Jersey .5 million. The 25-year-old Varlamov is thriving under first-year coach and Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, posting a 26-9-5 record with a 2.TAMPA, Fla. -- Martin St. Louis helped the undermanned Tampa Bay Lightning stop a lengthy scoring drought. St. Louis scored two in-close goals, Ben Bishop won his 15th game this season, and the Lightning beat the Ottawa Senators 3-1 on Thursday night. "If you look at most of my goals, Im not the kind of guy thats going to score from outside the circle," St. Louis said. "Its just not my game. I try to get free and go to the net. Thats what I did tonight and the puck came to me." Valtteri Filppula also scored for the Lightning, who were coming off consecutive shutout losses to Columbus (1-0) and Pittsburgh (3-0). Ondrej Palat had two assists. Ottawa, which has dropped seven of 10, got a goal from Patrick Wiercioch. "Were just finding ways to lose," Wiercioch said. "We know we can be a better team and be more consistent, and we havent proven that yet." Tampa Bay defenceman Victor Hedman left after the first period with a lower-body injury, while defenceman Keith Aulie departed during the second due to a broken hand. Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Aulie will have surgery Friday, and that Hedman will likely miss Saturday nights game against Winnipeg. "I dont know when hes coming back," Cooper said of Hedman. "Hes more a day to day. Well see what happens, but I dont expect him back for Winnipeg." The Lightning were already without several key players, including centre Steven Stamkos (broken leg), left wing Ryan Malone (broken ankle), and defencemen Eric Brewer (lower body) and Radko Gudas (upper body). "A big effort from an extremely short-handed team," Cooper said. Stamkos has a goal of returning in February, while Malone will be out three to four weeks. Brewer and Gudas could soon return. St. Louiss beat goalie Robin Lehner from just outside the crease to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 advantage 13:19 into the second.dddddddddddd. The Lightning captain tied Jason Arnott for 91st place on the NHL points list with 938. Filppulas goal from the left circle made it 3-1 at 10:56 of the third. St. Louis put the Lightning up 1-0 when he scored while falling forward with 3:15 left in the first. Wiercioch tied it at 1-all with a power-play goal 6:11 into the second. The defenceman had not scored a goal in his previous 20 games dating to last season. "Obviously, we didnt play hard enough to win," Ottawa coach Paul MacLean said. "I dont think its like inches and inches and miles and miles that we have to play harder, but we have to play harder longer." Bishop made one of his 33 saves early in the first on Chris Neils slot shot. The Lightning acquired Bishop from Ottawa last April. "Its always nice to beat a team that traded you," said Bishop, who has won both of his games against the Senators. Lehner kept the Senators within one early in the third when he stopped a shot by Nate Thompson during a breakaway. Lehner finished with 19 saves. "We were just not good enough," Senators captain Jason Spezza said. "I think we were playing too cautious, and in turn I dont think we played with enough confidence and made too many mistakes. It just seemed like we were a little bit scared to make mistakes, and when you play cautious like that and dont play with enough confidence, thats why were losing games. We have to be a more-attacking team. We have to believe in ourselves more than we do." NOTES: St. Louis was held pointless in his previous three games. ... Ottawa C Kyle Turris had an assist and has seven assists and 12 points in 10 games against Tampa Bay. ' ' '