INDIANAPOLIS – So you thought this would be the Houston Texans’ year to ascend to the top of the AFC South, eh?
Think again.
The Colts defeated the Houston Texans 20-17 Sunday. While the score was close and it took Kris Brown missing a potential game-tying field goal as time expired to finalize matters, the gap between these teams is still apparent.
Peyton Manning picked apart the Texans secondary – he completed 34 of 50 passes for 318 yards, one touchdown and one interception – and really should have kept passing on almost every down. Dallas Clark’s 14-reception, 119-yard performance was one of the best by a tight end in NFL history.
The Colts twice intercepted one of the league’s best passing offenses, despite missing starting defensive backs Bob Sanders, Kelvin Hayden and Marlin Jackson.
Heck, the Colts even bested the officials. A coach’s challenge, just after the two-minute warning, was the pivotal play of the game. It was determined Houston’s Ryan Moats had fumbled the ball at the 1-yard line, and Indianapolis’ Jerraud Powers had come back from out of bounds to down it in his end zone, thwarting a Houston scoring opportunity. The play was so complex many didn’t even see a challenge coming, but Colts assistant coach Pete Metzelaars told head coach Jim Caldwell to get it reviewed.
“We did not even know until the play had been stopped because of the two-minute warning that there was even an issue,” Houston coach Gary Kubiak said. “We thought it was out of bounds.”
The Texans (5-4) spent so much of the game scratching their heads that it’s amazing they ever had a chance at winning.
In a stroke of genius, the Colts had come out running a hurry-up offense and throwing the ball 40 out of 50 plays as they mounted a 13-0 lead.
Manning had 242 yards and a touchdown after the first half. The offensive yards were 264 to 99, the Colts were on pace to shatter all the passing marks.
“We had planned to really go up-tempo,” Caldwell said. “It was almost like our two-minute operation. It was obviously by design. We wanted to press the issue and be as aggressive as we possibly could, try to set a pace.”
Save for one pass over the middle that sailed into the hands of Texans safety Bernard Pollard, the product of South Side and Purdue, it was working beautifully.
“It was high intensity and, I’m not going to lie, it caught us off guard,” Pollard said.
The gaffe was that the Colts (8-0) changed their philosophy after the Texans’ explosive offense took off and took a 17-13 lead on a 1-yard Steve Slaton run.
Gadgetry may have paid off the week before in the form of a Joseph Addai touchdown pass, but the Colts got too cute by running a reverse pass that saw Reggie Wayne throw a wobbly ball into the hands of Pollard. Don’t stray from what’s working, people.
The Colts recovered, getting a 20-17 lead on a 2-yard Addai touchdown run, but because Manning stopped putting the ball in the air, they gave the Texans two chances to win.
Luckily for Indianapolis, quarterback Matt Schaub, under pressure from linebacker Gary Brackett, threw an interception to linebacker Clint Session on one drive. And Brown missed his 42-yard attempt on the other.
It was too close for comfort. And it shouldn’t have been that way. Nonetheless, this is still the Colts’ division.
