5 takeaways from Colts’ 31-0 win over Texans
The Indianapolis Colts (7-6) took care of business against the Houston Texans (2-10) and enter their bye week with a winning record.
Frank Reich’s team played as close to a perfect game as he could ask for. The offense had a relatively slow start and matched the energy of NRG stadium. They were able to wake up from their slumber to complete a two-for-one opportunity. They were able to put together a 6:13 minute drive and score with 43 seconds left in the first half.
Indianapolis followed that up with an opening scoring drive in the third quarter to make it a 21-0. The Colts didn’t look back after that and coasted their way to a win. Matt Eberflus’ defense put the clamps down on the Texans’ offense. They didn’t allow any rushing lanes to open up and kept the passing windows tight all afternoon.
It was far from an exciting game to watch and I don’t expect NFL Network to rerun it anytime soon. But this was the ideal outcome for Indianapolis prior to the bye week. They set themselves up for a potential playoff run with the win and are entering their bye week as healthy as they have been.
Here are my top five takeaways from the matchup:
A healthy dose of Jonathan Taylor
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Well, those that wanted more touches for Taylor certainly got it against the Texans. He definitely had to earn his stats today because the Houston defense did a good job at limiting the explosive plays from JT.
He was a battering ram for the most part of the game and just helped wear down their defense with every rushing attempt. Once he started to break through the defensive front for five-plus yard gains, the offense started to move the ball with ease.
His longest run of the day was 16 yards. Taylor ended up running the ball 32 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns. That was his total amount of yards because he didn’t receive a target in today’s passing attack. Despite that and sitting at the end of the fourth quarter, he still outgained the Texans’ offense. Houston’s offense finished with 141 total yards.
This is also his 10th straight game with a rushing touchdown, it is the longest streak since LaDanian Tomlinson did it in 2004. The stud back adds another game to his resume when it is time for the awards at the end of the season.
Defense gets the road shutout
AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith
It really didn’t matter how the offense played today because of how well the Indianapolis defense handled the Houston offense. It started on the first snap of the game when Kenny Moore jumped in front of a sideline pass attempt and got his hands on the ball for the interception. That set up the offense at the Texans’ 29-yard line and they capped it off with the first touchdown of the game. It didn’t stop there for Moore.
On the next drive, he was able to strip the ball out of Pharoah Brown’s hands and Xavier Rhodes jumped on it for the recovery. The defense would follow that up by forcing Houston to punt five straight times. Matt Eberflus’ unit forced four three-and-outs and three turnover on downs. They were able to control the trenches against the run and got pressure on the quarterback throughout the game.
The secondary looked like they knew the routes that were being run and it allowed them to be in a position to make the throw difficult. Kemoko Turay was able to get the sack to seal the shutout on the final drive by the Texans’ offense. This is the first road shutout for the Colts since 1992. There was never a moment that the defense let up against Houston.
Michael Pittman Jr. got his as well
AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith
Jonathan Taylor wasn’t the only 2020 second-round pick that had himself a day. Pittman Jr. did his best impression of T.Y. Hilton and went over 100 total yards in NRG Stadium. On a day that most expected The Ghost to have a major impact on the game, it looked like it was a passing of the torch to the young receiver.
There wasn’t much of a need to lean on Carson Wentz, he only had 22 passing attempts today. He targeted Pittman Jr. on eight of those throws and was able to connect with him six times for 77 yards. There should have been a reception that resulted in a touchdown but he wasn’t able to secure the catch on a Wentz pass that had a lot of velocity to it. Other than that, it was an efficient day between the quarterback and receiver.
Pittman Jr. was able to also get involved in the ground game. He was second on the team and in the matchup in rushing yards. He was able to pick up 33 rushing yards on his two attempts. He outgained the leading rusher from the Texans because Rex Burkhead only had 30 rushing yards on his eight attempts. Pittman Jr. was responsible for picking up five first downs on his 10 touches. The Colts offense runs through Taylor but Pittman Jr. plays his vital role in keeping the chains moving for the unit.
Defensive front controls the trenches
AP Photo/Justin Rex
The defensive front four played a big part in why the Colts defense was so dominant today. They held the Houston offense to 84 rushing yards and the longest run they gave up was 16 yards. Which came on a reverse by Brandin Cooks. If you take out that run by Cooks plus the scrambles by Tyrod Taylor and Davis Mills, the Texans’ running backs only averaged 3.2 YPC.
They didn’t just make an impact against the run, their play in passing situations also frustrated both quarterbacks all afternoon. Taylor and Mills never got settled in and saw pressure throughout the game. The Colts’ front four finished with four TFL, four sacks, and 11 QB hits. Al-Quadin Muhammad and Kemoko Turay both had two sacks each. They both now have five sacks for the season and put them right behind DeForest Buckner who leads the team with five and a half sacks.
Muhammad’s day ended with three tackles (three solo), two TFL, two sacks, and three QB hits. Turay had two tackles (two solo), two TFL, two sacks, and two QB hits. Buckner was the only other player to get in on at least two QB hits. This group has been playing good football as of late and they are going to need to continue to develop when they return for late December football.
A perfect boring game
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This might not be a game that an average football fan would enjoy, outside a Colts fan of course. This was a matchup that didn’t offer a lot of explosive moments because of how great the Indianapolis defense played and the offense burning time behind Jonathan Taylor’s legs. The offense finished with 238 rushing yards and averaged 5.0 YPC.
The Colts completely dominated the time of possession, 41:35-18:25. Picked up 26 first downs compared to the nine first downs by the Houston offense. In a league that gets pass friendly every year and a defense that has let opposing quarterbacks dice them up in the air, that didn’t happen today. Tyrod Taylor and Davis Mills combined to go 11/27 for 57 yards. The Texans averaged 2.8 yards per play. There were a couple of blunders by Indianapolis. Michael Badgley missed his first field goal attempt since joining the team after the Kenny Moore forced fumble.
Taylor’s one negative mark on his report was fumbling the ball away on his final rushing attempt. Even though there were some mistakes, the reason why this is a perfect boring game is that Frank Reich was able to sit his starters in the fourth quarter and there were no reported injuries exiting the matchup. His team accomplish what they set out to do, take care of a division rival and enter the bye week healthy with some positive momentum for the final quarter of the season. The Colts have set themselves up to make a run for a spot in the playoffs because of today’s victory.
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