Colts vs. Texans: Score and Twitter Reaction for Thursday Night Football

After the first five Thursday Night Football games were decided by 20 points or more, Week 6's AFC South showdown between the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans finally fostered a competitive game.

And there was some pun intended there; Texans star Arian Foster got going on the ground to help Houston's comeback charge from a 24-0 first-quarter deficit. J.J. Watt even scored his third touchdown of the season to ignite the crowd in the fourth.

In the end, though, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck made just enough plays, throwing for 370 yards and three scores against the hosts' vaunted defense to secure a 33-28 road victory.

ESPN's David Lombardi pointed out how much of a winner Luck has become even at this early stage in his pro career:

A critical, late fumble by Texans franchise receiver Andre Johnson put a temporary stop to Houston's comeback bid.

ESPN's Skip Bayless felt the proper call was made upon further review:

Although the Texans got one more possession, asking Ryan Fitzpatrick to drive 91 yards with no timeouts was going to be a tall task. That two-minute drill was short-lived as Fitzpatrick, with no receivers open, tried to scramble and was stripped of the ball, which D'Qwell Jackson recovered to seal it.

The victory puts Indianapolis atop the division, extending its winning streak to four games after a potentially perilous 0-2 start. One key stat that decided the game was third-down conversion rate, with Indy finding success on eight of 16 attempts, while Houston succeeded just once in eight tries.

Luck rightly gets a ton of credit for the Colts' turnaround as the top overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft. Credit is due to his draft classmate, T.Y. Hilton, too. The diminutive dynamo had a tremendous game and hauled in multiple deep passes from Luck to blow the top off Houston's secondary.

Football Perspective's Chase Stuart weighed in on Hilton's extraordinary proficiency:

It appeared as though Luck and Hilton would run the Texans out of NRG Stadium early. The MMQB's Peter King highlighted some eye-popping stats:

ESPN Stats & Info had the historical implications of Luck's performance:

Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle documented the development in Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton's play-calling that allowed Houston back into the game:

In the second quarter, Fitzpatrick actually put points on the board first with a bold, four-yard TD strike to Johnson, who finished with seven receptions for 99 yards and the aforementioned score. ESPN's Todd McShay broke down the play step by step:

On the ensuing possession, a Luck pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Justin Tuggle, setting up a nifty, 12-yard cutback jaunt to paydirt by Foster, slicing the deficit to 24-14.

James Palmer of CSNHouston.com noted how steady Foster has been in recent years after yet another brilliant outing on Thursday:

Foster's second trip to the end zone preceded Luck and Hilton's lone TD connection—this coming on a 33-yard bomb that Luck lofted and Hilton went up to get.

That appeared to put the game out of reach, especially when Houston kicker Randy Bullock missed an easy 37-yard field goal toward the beginning of the fourth.

Bob Levey/Getty Images

But Luck fumbled the snap after some miscommunication with his center, and Watt snatched the ball as Luck scrambled to secure it to rumble 45 yards for the score.

Doug Farrar of Sports Illustrated harked back to John Landis land to describe what Watt had done:

Perhaps Luck put it best before the game in describing whom many consider the best defensive player in football, per HoustonTexans.com's Deepi Sidhu:

"

He's a freak. He's big, he's fast, he makes plays. Obviously, he made one heck of an interception return for touchdown. He does a lot of things very, very well. At the same time, I think we have a bunch of good players up front that are up for the challenge and ready to against him but we do have the utmost respect for how he plays football. He does it the right way. It's always fun to go against him because it's a great challenge for guys.

"

For a defender, Watt is certainly putting points on the board in addition to helping prevent them, per the NFL on ESPN:

The big play that sent watts of electricity through the Houston crowd ultimately wasn't enough to pull out the come-from-behind triumph. At least the Texans have the benefit of a bit more rest after expending a ton of energy, only to come up short in the end.

Houston will be featured on Monday night in Week 7 on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a crossroads game for both teams that should go a long way toward determining their fate in their respective divisions.

Indianapolis had a shaky end to this game, so it will have to figure out a way to channel its brilliance from the start of Thursday's contest into Week 7. A tough test looms with the Cincinnati Bengals, but it will be at Lucas Oil Stadium, which has become one of the tougher places in the league to play.

As is the case with much of the Colts' success, Luck has a lot to do with it.