Final score: Texans 20, Colts 20 tie (Texans covered +7, U 45.5)

The first Week 1 tie since 2019 may have left much to be desired in the standings, but gave plenty of significant fantasy performances from both sides. Indy was favored by seven coming in, but there was always the possibility of the underrated Texans offense putting up a solid season debut even against a very good Colts defense. The Texans actually led 20-3 going into the final quarter of regulation before the Colts offense led by their new quarterback in Matt Ryan finally got going.

Colts

QB

Up until the final two-minute mark in regulation, Matt Ryan (353-1-1) looked like he was going to have a lackluster fantasy line in his Colts regular season debut. He salvaged it by finally finding his top wideout Michael Pittman Jr. for the 15-yard touchdown that knotted up the score. It wasn’t a particularly impressive debut, but Ryan gets a terrific Week 2 matchup vs. a Jags defense that just let Carson Wentz shred them for the passing TD hat trick.

RB

The top player in fantasy put up an elite line to immediately inject confidence in fantasy managers who expended a top pick on him, as Jonathan Taylor (31-162-1 rushing, 7-14-0 receiving) was leaned on early and often in a monster workload totaling a career-high 38 touches. Frank Reich benched him the entire preseason to preserve him for workloads like these when it counts. Despite that and some reports that Reich actually wanted to avoid reaching that kind of volume over the course of the season, it seems like Taylor will shoulder the burden plenty to the delight of his fantasy managers. Right on queue following reports he could threaten a new career-high in receptions this year, Nyheim Hines flashed a solid PPR floor (3-4-0 rushing, 6-50-0 receiving) and actually finished second in targets to only Pittman with six. He’ll continue to play an important role as Ryan’s safety valve while also keeping Taylor fresh on passing downs.

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WR

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