Texans vs. Colts: Indianapolis Grades, Notes and Quotes
It was a tough year for AFC South fans, with no teams over .500 at this point in the season. It was only fitting that the battle for the division title came down to an injured Matt Hasselbeck against Brandon Weeden.
With both the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts at 6-7 heading into Sunday’s game, which was largely going to decide the winner of the division, injuries defined a low-scoring battle, with the Texans coming out on top 16-10.
Neither team was able to move the ball with regularity—between Hasselbeck’s limitations and the struggles of Weeden and T.J. Yates, who also left injured, there wasn’t much offense in Indianapolis—but the Colts couldn’t move the ball at all in the second half and fell apart as a result.
Indianapolis now needs help from the Texans if it wants to keep its playoff streak alive, but winning games comes first, and that might be out of reach for a Colts team that has completely come off the rails the last three weeks.
Position Grades for Indianapolis
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Quarterbacks: D
It doesn’t feel entirely fair to grade Matt Hasselbeck so harshly, but even if he was at 10 percent health—an entirely plausible scenario—there is no excuse for how bad the Colts offense played.
The veteran quarterback failed to take advantage of a bevy of chances in the first half, and Hasselbeck couldn’t move the ball at all in the second before Charlie Whitehurst temporarily came in as relief.
Running Backs: C-
If these were awards the NFL actually handed out, Frank Gore would likely be on the short list for most underutilized player and most disappointing offseason acquisition this season.
Against the Texans Gore had another up-and-down game, effective when his blocking was relatively passable—which wasn’t often—but didn’t receive enough touches or do enough with them to make a real impact on the game. If Indianapolis makes the playoffs, maybe the pitch count will go away, but for now it is just more of the same.
Wide Receivers: D-
As with the rest of the offense, the Colts wide receivers were largely impacted by the fact that Matt Hasselbeck didn’t look like he was even 50 percent for most of the game, but there is still no excuse for how anonymous the receivers felt.
T.Y. Hilton looked primed for a big day after an active opening drive, but he disappeared from the game, while Donte Moncrief couldn’t build on his second-quarter touchdown. Even Andre Johnson, who played one of his best games of the year, struggled against the Texans secondary in an overall bad day for the Indianapolis offense.
Tight Ends: D-
Did the Colts tight ends play Sunday? Yes, just checking because it didn’t feel like it in another terrible performance against the Houston Texans.
Offensive Line: D-
This was never going to end well, but it didn’t have to be that ugly. Facing one of the best defensive lines in football, the Colts' pass protection didn’t have much hope going into the game, and those expectations were rendered correct.
While Hasselbeck’s short throws were partially because of his limitations, it was also a factor of J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney and Vince Wilfork constantly being in his face. The run blocking wasn’t much better, with Gore unable to find much space and overall it was a brutal week for the offensive line.
Defensive Line: B-
There were far too many times the Texans running backs found their way into the arms of the Colts linebackers in the second level, but it was a good day for the Indianapolis defensive line otherwise.
Pressure on the quarterback was much better, and even when the running backs did get past the line of scrimmage, the Colts' defensive line did a decent job of forcing them into lanes they didn’t want to go into.
Linebackers: B
Needing to get some sort of pressure on the quarterback or risk DeAndre Hopkins tearing them apart again, the Colts linebackers stepped up big time and did what they were asked against the Texans.
With consistent pressure on Houston’s pair of quarterbacks, the linebackers also did an OK job of corralling the run game and playing quite well in a bad situation the struggling offense handed them.
Defensive Backs: B+
A tip for any defensive coach looking to fix a struggling secondary: play against T.J. Yates and Brandon Weeden and things will improve instantaneously.
It is doubtful the Colts secondary can play this well again for the rest of the season based on quarterbacks they will face, but early turnovers that Vontae Davis and Mike Adams forced changed the game and were huge even if Hopkins ended up having another decent day.
Special Teams: A
How odd would it be if the Colts ended up sweeping the Pro Bowl kicker positions in the middle of an incredibly disappointing season. That is how good Pat McAfee and Adam Vinatieri have been this season, and that continued against the Texans.
For the first time this season, the return game stepped up as well, with Quan Bray playing well, even if the Colts wasted every opportunity the Texans gave them.
Colts Wasteful with Early Opportunities
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In the early stages of Sunday’s contest, it seemed the Texans didn’t want any part of winning the AFC South and a spot in the playoffs. With turnovers on their first two drives and a pair of big punt returns, Houston allowed the Colts great field position consistently throughout the first half.
Yet, despite utterly outplaying their rivals in all facets and receiving these generous gifts that any team would have been glad to take advantage of, the Colts only managed 10 points in the opening half-hour and a 10-3 lead heading into the break.
Coming off back-to-back games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars in which Indianapolis squandered opportunities and was blown out following a second-half collapse, the Colts wastefulness early against Houston was a troubling sign to start the game.
Some of the struggles were a direct result of Matt Hasselbeck’s limitations, which we’ll get to in a moment, but there is no excuse for only 10 points coming in a half the Colts dominated. The game should have been out of reach by the break, but it was instead a tightly contested affair heading into the second half.
The missed opportunities ended up being the difference in the game as well, with the Colts offense flopping entirely in the second half and the Texans doing enough to squeeze out a 16-10 win to take control of the division.
The Colts Miss Andrew Luck
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It was clear from the get-go that, despite starting and practicing during the week, Matt Hasselbeck was no where near 100 percent healthy.
Holding his ribs throughout warmpus, the veteran quarterback didn’t seem like he could play even before the game started and was limited to short throws throughout the first half with only a couple of exceptions.
The biggest example of how ready he was to go came after Clowney hit him on the sideline on 2nd-and-10 and instead of trying to take advantage of great field position and pick up a first down putting themselves in field-goal range, the Colts elected to run the ball and punt.
Through all of this Charlie Whitehurst, the Colts' backup for the game, sat on the sideline showing no signs of coming in until a huge hit in the fourth temporarily took Hasselbeck out of the game.
Perhaps beyond the more obvious value the Colts place on Hasselbeck over Whitehurst, Sunday’s game was a perfect example of how badly the team needs Andrew Luck back. There were a number of opportunities in the opening half Indianapolis would have been much more comfortable taking with its superstar under center. He can’t return soon enough.
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Nothing Is Assured in This Colts Season
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Heading into Sunday’s AFC South-deciding clash, the Houston Texans had never won in Indianapolis. Not once.
But in what has been an incredibly disappointing season for the Colts—who were expected to be a Super Bowl contender—even the most sure thing wasn’t assured for Indianapolis as Houston shut down the home team’s offense and pulled out the massive victory.
A week ago the Colts had to watch as the Jacksonville Jaguars embarrassed the team en route to the NFL record-winning streak against division opponents disappearing, and now the Colts other streak—13 straight home wins against Houston—disappeared.
This was supposed to be a year in which the Colts waltzed to a division title, and now they will need a miracle to keep their playoff streak alive. With a number of veterans playing key roles as well, it appears Indianapolis' future isn’t the brightest.
Chuck Pagano on Missed Opportunities
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How different would Sunday’s game had been if the Colts had built a 14 or 17 point lead in the second quarter, rather than squandering opportunities and only leading by seven at halftime.
With the Texans' poor play and a number of turnovers, Indianapolis couldn’t take advantage. Chuck Pagano noted how important those missed early chances were, according to Kevin Bowen of Colts.com:
"Pagano: “We had a great opportunity and we didn’t take advantage of it.” Once again points to the early lead, which could’ve been bigger.
— Kevin Bowen (@KBowenColts) December 20, 2015"
This isn’t the first time the Colts have missed out on early chances—just look at the last two games against the Jaguars and Steelers—but it was the most costly with a six-point loss likely coming down to an inability to score early points and a struggling offense late.
Matt Hasselbeck on the Final Offensive Play for Indy
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Despite how poorly the offense played in the second half and Hasselbeck's limitations, with a little under two minutes remaining in the game, the Colts still had a chance to beat the Texans.
But on the opening play of the drive, Hasselbeck launched a Hail Mary that was easily picked off, securing the defeat for Indianapolis. According to Mike Berman of Indy Sports Central, the veteran quarterback took full blame on the missed play:
"Hasselbeck on final play: "My fault. We had a post route on. Misinterpreted the angle he was gonna take. My fault all the way."
— Mike Berman (@MikeBermanIndy) December 20, 2015"
The interception wasn’t Indianapolis' only missed chance, but it will be the one that will populate highlight reels because of the play's finality for both the game and the Colts season.
Chuck Pagano on the Team’s Mentality Moving Forward
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For both the Colts and Texans, Sunday was pretty close to a win or go home game. With the win Houston moved to the top of the AFC South and all but locked up the division title and a playoff spot.
But a lot would have to happen for Indianapolis to move back on top of the division, it isn’t mathematically impossible and coach Chuck Pagano said after the game the team is going to fight until the end, according to Nat Newell of the Indianapolis Star:
"Pagano: "This thing ain't over. I know what kind of guys we have in the locker room. They played their tails off. Credit Houston."
— Nat Newell (@NatJNewell) December 20, 2015"
Pagano is right, and the team shouldn’t head into the last two weeks of the year assuming it is over if it isn’t, but if the Colts couldn’t get up for a must-win game against Houston, chances are things won’t get much better in the next couple of weeks either.
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