Colts vs. Texans: Houston Grades, Notes & Quotes

Each week is important when the regular season only has 16 games, but the Houston Texans desperately needed to pull out a victory against the Indianapolis Colts in their biggest game of the season so far.

However, with the help of two turnovers, 13 penalties and a surprisingly soft defense, the Texans didn't get that win and now fall into a pit of despair at 1-4.

On paper, the Texans defense looked like it would be their strength before the season started, especially against the run.

Well, you can crumple up that piece of paper and toss it into the trash because they got carved up by an aging running back, an aging wide receiver and a 40-year-old quarterback, who spent time in hospital this week.

Just a pathetic effort on defense from the Texans.

The AFC South still seems like a division that could be won with eight or nine wins, but the Texans will be lucky to reach half of that total playing like they have so far this season.

Unfortunately, it's time for Texans fans to start their annual October tradition of looking ahead to the NFL Draft and scouting which promising quarterback prospect the team will pass on next.

California quarterback Jared Goff would look really nice in a Texans uniform.

Position Grades for the Texans

Patric Schneider/Associated Press

Quarterback	C
Running Back	B
Wide Receiver	A
Tight End	D
Offensive Line	B-
Defensive Line	C-
Linebackers	C-
Defensive Backs	D
Special Teams	B
Coaching	B
Overall	C-

The Texans don't have enough talent on offense to overcome many mistakes like turnovers or penalties, but they were hurt by both during this game against Indianapolis.

A promising first quarter drive was ended by an interception when a Ryan Mallett pass bounced off the hands of Arian Foster and into the arms of Colts defender Mike Adams. The pass from Mallett wasn't perfect, but it was still something Foster could have caught.

Texans fans all want better play out of the quarterback position, but seeing fans complain on Twitter about Mallett throwing it too hard after years of complaining about Matt Schaub's "noodle arm" was a bit annoying.

Regardless of who was at fault for the interception, the turnover took at least three points off the board with the team at the Colts' 19-yard line at the time.

In the second quarter, guard Oday Aboushi committed an inexcusable mistake by lunging at the legs of a Colts defender, who was already locked up with a Texans blocker. The ref threw the flag for the obvious chop block and took more points off the board.

The pass from Brian Hoyer to DeAndre Hopkins on that play was ruled to have been caught out of bounds, but the replay from the CBS broadcast made it seem pretty close and it might have been overturned.

Either way, though, it put the Texans into a 2nd-and-21 situation, which pretty much guaranteed that a field goal would be their best possible result for the possession and took four potential points off the board.

The Texans can't give away points and expect to win many games.

Unfortunately, the Texans also gave points to the Colts with mistakes and penalties on the defensive side as well.

In particular, the Texans were flagged four times during the Colts' long second-half drive that put them up 27-17 in the fourth quarter.

Those penalties were also huge, with two of them turning potential third down plays for the Colts into automatic first downs, and another taking an interception for the Texans away.

The Colts played really well, but they wouldn't have scored on that drive if the Texans hadn't helped them out with penalties.

After coming in for Mallett, who took a big hit that got flagged for roughing the passer, Hoyer looked surprisingly good. His decision-making was quicker and his accuracy was better than Mallett and helped lead the Texans on a couple scoring drives.

His decision-making on the game-ending interception was awful, but overall he played a solid game.

For the game, Hoyer completed 77 percent of his passes for over 300 yards and two touchdowns.

Answering one of the pre-game question marks favorably was the play of the Texans' young wide receivers.

Rookies Keith Mumphery and Jaelen Strong combined for six receptions, 76 yards and two touchdowns.

Not surprisingly, Hopkins had a big game like he does every week with 11 receptions for 169 yards. He's on pace for a huge statistical season and has a great chance to make the Pro Bowl; too bad his effort will be wasted on a terrible team.

Foster looked like a different player than the person who took the field last week against Atlanta.

His rushing stats definitely won't blow anyone away, but he did look more fluid with his movements and much quicker with his ability to make quick cuts.

Foster also showed once again that he's one of the best receiving backs in the league with nine receptions for 77 yards. 

On the other side of the ball, the run defense was awful and the coverage from the secondary was way too soft.

Playing off-coverage against a speedy receiver like T.Y. Hilton is understandable to prevent the big play, but the Texans' corners were more yards off the line of scrimmage than the offense needed for a first down several times.

How do they expect to make a stop like that?

I'm not saying they should play press coverage on every play, but at age 40, it seems unlikely that Matt Hasselbeck would still have the arm strength to beat them deep very often. The Texans' corners should play up on their receivers on the third and short situations at the very least.

The Texans' run defense was also surprisingly soft against a Colts running game that hadn't played very well coming into this game.

Frank Gore racked up 98 yards and a touchdown on 4.5 yards per carry to help lead the Colts to just their second game with over 100 rushing yards this season.

Not only did the Texans' defensive line open up like the parting of the Red Sea several times, but Gore bounced off would-be tacklers all night and piled up yards after contact as well.

What a disappointing effort from what should be a pretty good defense.

The Quarterback Controversy Continues

Eric Christian Smith/Associated Press

In perhaps what could be attributed to bad timing, Ryan Mallett left the game during the first half after taking a hard hit and never got back into it.

Mallett wasn't playing well at the time he left, but I didn't expect coach Bill O'Brien to leave Brian Hoyer in for the rest of the game unless there was a serious injury.

It appeared Mallett was physically capable of coming back in, but he remained on the bench which surprised him as well the fans. 

"

Mallett said he expected to go back in the game. Never thought he wouldn't when he came out. #Texans

— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) October 9, 2015 "

"

Ryan Mallett said he just got the wind knocked out of him and was ready to go back in said he tried to go back in but O'Brien said no

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) October 9, 2015"

The CBS cameras picked up a visibly upset Mallett looking on with obvious anger and a couple times even trying to put himself back into the game. Why O'Brien decided to stick with the switch is hard to say, but Hoyer did play better than Mallett once he entered the game. 

"

Ryan Mallett's actual reaction to the Texans last TD pic.twitter.com/vxLcepLjlp

— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) October 9, 2015"

Get ready for a long week of quarterback conversation on sports-talk radio because the quarterback competition that started the day Hoyer was signed still hasn't been settled.

Not that anyone should be surprised, but O'Brien declined to name either player the starter for next week's game against Jacksonville. 

"

#Texans coach Bill O'Brien is asked who his starting quarterback is. Says they'll have to watch film and discuss.

— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) October 9, 2015"

Maybe the coaches should just let Mallett and Hoyer play "high card" or "rock, paper, scissors" on the sideline to determine who plays on each possession; that would at least be more fun than the randomness of how it seems to be decided currently.

All Jaelen Strong Does Is Catch Touchdowns

Patric Schneider/Associated Press

In the first game of his NFL career, rookie Jaelen Strong caught two touchdown passes on his only two receptions of the game. 

"

Last player to catch touchdowns on his first two NFL receptions of NFL career, per Elias Sports Bureau, Jaguars' Allen Hurns in 2013

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) October 9, 2015"

After being inactive for the first four weeks of the season, the Texans third-round pick stepped up big and made perhaps the play of the year by boxing out a couple Colts defenders to bring in a touchdown catch on a Hail Mary pass to end the first half. 

"

STRONG effort by the rookie! http://t.co/6dBa3F9ZBJ pic.twitter.com/Y06QYZumbO

— SB Nation (@SBNation) October 9, 2015"

With injuries to veteran receivers Nate Washington and Cecil Shorts that could last a couple more weeks, the Texans will need more big plays from Strong.

Andre Johnson Torches Former Team

Patric Schneider/Associated Press

We all knew that was coming, right?

Of course Andre Johnson had a big performance against the team that released him earlier this year, after not having a good game all season.

It wouldn't be sports in Houston without that sort of predictable kick to the gut happening.

Coming into this week, Johnson hadn't caught a single touchdown and only had a total of seven receptions for 51 yards.

Yet in this revenge game of sorts, Johnson found a way to catch six passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns with a quarterback who spent time in a hospital this week.

Like a ghost sent to hauntingly remind everyone of their wrongdoings and of the promise the team once had, Johnson tortured the Texans in the same way he use to help them before disappearing once more. 

"

Andre Johnson just walked out of the Colts locker room to what appears to be his cheering section. Cheers echoing through the hallway.

— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) October 9, 2015"

That performance from Johnson felt like a full salt shaker being jabbed into an open wound.

Follow me on Twitter for more news and opinion on the Texans: @sackedbybmac