Watch Indianapolis Colts Vs. Houston Texans Live Online: NFL Thursday Night Football AFC South Clash

Thursday Night Football returns October 8, and fans can watch a crucial AFC South divisional matchup live online when the Indianapolis Colts travel to Houston for a clash with the Texans. The 2-2 first-place Colts are looking to put some daylight between themselves and the rest of the division. Even with the Texans winning only one game so far this season and sitting in last place, a Houston win ties them with the Colts in the won-loss column. It would give Houston a key edge in an eventual tiebreaker, with a victory in a head-to-head matchup.

Since joining the NFL in 2002, the Texans have not had much success in head-to-head matchups with Indianapolis, winning only four of the 26 games between the two franchises, including losses in the last five matchups.

But that’s not too surprising considering that the Colts come into the Thursday night game on a 15-game divisional winning streak — tied with the 1972 Miami Dolphins for the longest win streak against divisional opponents in NFL history. In other words, with a win over Houston on Thursday, the Colts will set an NFL record with 16 straight wins against their own division.

This season, Indianapolis has already beaten their other two divisional rivals, with wins over the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars to even their record after starting 2015 at 0-2.

But if the Colts are going to set the record for consecutive divisional wins, they’ll have to do it without injured quarterback Andrew Luck, who, according to an ESPN report on Thursday, will sit out with an unspecified injury for a second straight game.

Instead, the Colts will go with 17-year veteran Matt Hasselbeck, who in addition to being over 40-years-old, has also been battling a severe viral illness that has kept him out of practice for much of this week — a short week anyway leading into the Thursday night game.

To find out how to watch the NFL Thursday Night Football Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans game live online, see the streaming information in the final paragraph of this article. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:25 p.m. Central Time at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas — 8:25 p.m. Eastern Time, 5:25 p.m. Pacific.

On the Houston side, second-year Coach Bill O’Brien is counting on running back Arian Foster to be fully healthy in his second game back from a groin injury. Foster didn’t do much in last week’s 48-21 drubbing at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons, carrying just eight times for a miserable 10 yards and a fumble that the Falcons ran back for a touchdown.

But O’Brien claims to be unworried about his star ball-carrier.

“It’s hard for anyone to expect him to come into that first game and just be totally back to normal,” the coach said this week. “He hasn’t played in a long time (and) it’s a significant injury that he had. I think as we work him back into the offense, he’ll really help us.”

O’Brien will also return to Ryan Mallet as his starting quarterback, despite benching Mallet in favor of Brian Hoyer late in the game against Atlanta. Before the season, O’Brien awarded the starting job to Hoyer but quickly changed his mind after a mediocre showing by Hoyer in the first game of the season.

The Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans game will be available to watch live online with credentials from numerous cable and satellite providers, as well as in select regions through NFL Sunday Ticket at this link — though even where available, the Sunday Ticket option comes with a subscription fee. But the NFL Network will broadcast the Colts vs. Texans with streaming video at this link.

[Images: Andy Lyons / Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images]