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Once.

The injury bug is still haunting the Indianapolis Colts.

This could be the week Matt Cassel keeps his jersey clean. Cassel has been sacked 24 times in six starts, including 19 the last four games, and has been hurried and knocked down even more often. The Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4) could offer him some relief when they host Kansas City (1-6) on Sunday. The Jaguars have a league-low five sacks in seven games, struggling to get any consistent pressure on…

The Houston Texans spent all decade dreaming of this opportunity. All they really wanted was a chance to establish themselves as a playoff contender and finally take down their old nemesis, the Indianapolis Colts. On Sunday, they could do both. At 5-3 and on a three-game winning streak, Houston looks like the only AFC South team capable of challenging Indy for division superiority — and it's…

Once. That's how many times the Houston Texans have beaten the Colts. When the Texans visit Indianapolis on Sunday, they will carry a 1-13 mark against the Colts since Houston joined the NFL as its most recent expansion team in 2002. Oddly, the victory came in 2006, the season the Colts took the Super Bowl.

After a horrific start in the first three games, the Texans’ defense has been outstanding.

Fans were ready to run first-year defensive coordinator Frank Bush out of town after a 1-2 start. They allowed 28.7 points a game and 437.7 yards, including 205 against the run. They were on a pace to allow more yards and more yards rushing than any defense in history.

Bush, who had been promoted from senior defensive assistant after Richard Smith was fired, appeared to be in over his head. Coach Gary Kubiak was accused of promoting Bush because they worked together in Denver.

Kubiak and Bush didn’t panic. They explained that the awful defense was the cause of four long touchdowns and not a problem with the scheme.

The Indianapolis Colts are keenly aware of the position that they’re in heading into Sunday’s AFC South matchup with the Houston Texans.

Indianapolis, now 7-0 for the season and 2-0 in the division, has a seemingly comfortable 2 1/2-game lead over the rapidly improving Texans. Houston, meanwhile, will bring a 5-3 record and a 1-1 AFC South mark to Lucas Oil Stadium.

A win by the Colts would give them an early sweep of the division and allow coach Jim Caldwell’s team a chance to control their fate in the AFC South. But losing would tighten things up considerably, especially since Indianapolis will play at Houston in three weeks.

“The only (game) I’m concerned about is this one.

The Jaguars have to hope the cure for their sagging defense is coming to town Sunday – the Kansas City offense, which is 30th in the league.

The 1-6 Chiefs have yet to score a rushing touchdown, the offense has not scored more than two touchdowns in a game and Matt Cassel has been sacked 24 times in six games.

On top of that, running back Larry Johnson will miss the game because of a suspension. He’ll be replaced by second-year back Jamaal Charles, who has 116 yards in 23 carries.

This could provide a boost for a Jaguars defense ranked 24th overall, 25th against the rush and 26th against the pass.

Jacksonville has two major problems on defense – the pass rush and tackling.

The Jaguars have just five sacks in seven games.

Forget Cash for Clunkers as a means for jumpstarting the automobile industry.

Car dealers in the Nashville area need to root for Titans running back Chris Johnson to pick up his already blistering pace this season.

That’s because Johnson revealed Wednesday that he plans to buy a car for each of his five offensive linemen if he reaches his goal of gaining 2,000 yards on the ground this season.

Johnson leads the NFL with 824 yards rushing after a franchise-record 228 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. With that, Johnson is averaging 117.7 yards on the ground through seven games, but would need to average 130.7 yards over the Titans’ final nine games to gain the remaining 1,176 yards to reach 2,000.

If Johnson can reach the milestone, he would…

INDIANAPOLIS – The injury bug is still haunting the Indianapolis Colts.