NFL Week 1: Houston Texans Embarrass Indianapolis Colts

The Houston Texans have been beaten, bruised and berated by the Indianapolis Colts many times over the history of the franchise, but revenge is a dish best served cold (or at least air conditioned, like Reliant Stadium). Absolutely everything went right for the Texans in the first half aside from one unfortunate interception off the hands of Andre Johnson.

Houstonians have a complex about being disappointed by their sports teams, and it seemed to be coming to fruition again after Schaub was picked off in the first drive. But the Texans quickly put an end to that when they shut down the ensuing drive with Mario Williams' first sack in the new 3-4 defense (he also forced an intentional grounding). 

From that point on, everything was downhill for the Colts. The Texans showed that the pressure that they applied to opposing offenses in the preseason wasn't just a fluke. Collins was under pressure all day long from everyone on the defense. JJ Watt looked fantastic, Antonio Smith looks more explosive as a 3-4 DE than he ever did in a 4-3 and even Brian Cushing contributed to making Collins look extremely uncomfortable. The Texans attacked Collins in wave after wave of rusher.  Collins rarely had time to get the ball out to his receivers but

The Texans have to keep in mind that not only were the Colts missing Manning, but the starting left tackle and starting left guard have a combined one year experience in the NFL. They will face many teams that will pose much more of a challenge, but they will always have their offense.

The Texans scored on six consecutive possessions, including touchdowns for both back up running backs. For all of the people that have hated on Gary Kubiak (I am one of them too), this is why he still has his job. His ability to create offense without the leagues leading rusher is amazing. The fact that his team came out prepared and played a very clean game is a tribute to Kubiak growing as a coach. Aside from the interception, which came off of a tipped ball, it was a spotless game until the first penalty came with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter. However, after that, the Texans began to regress and show some mental errors. 

The Texans committed a few more penalties, Ben Tate fumbled, Reggie Wayne scored a TD and there was news that Kevin Walter had a shoulder injury. In the end, a win is a win, and the Texans will be happy to take it, especially because they were able to to rest Arian Foster.  However, Kubiak and the coaching staff will have plenty of things to work on before the Texans take on the Miami Dolphins in Miami.