Houston, We Have a Problem

The Indianapolis Colts couldn’t have played any worse yesterday in the season opener against the Houston Texans.

It was looking like it was going to be the first time they've been shut out since a wild-card match-up against the New York Jets in 2002 that the Colts lost 41-0.

The last time they were shut out during a regular season game was in 1993 against the New England Patriots.

The Colts were shut out in the first half for the first time since September of 2008 against Minnesota.  The 34-0 score was also the biggest halftime deficit in the entire Colts franchise history.

It almost looked like they weren’t even trying until it was too late.

The Colts defense started the first possession of the game very strong and made it look promising.

Melvin Bullitt intercepted a tipped pass from Matt Schaub on the opening possession of the game and made it look like they would silence all the doubters of the defense.

The problem was that was the only thing to cheer about in a dismal first half of play.

The Texans racked up 259 yards of offense and 19 first downs in the first half alone.

The Texans did whatever they wanted to do against a weak Indianapolis defense.  The Colts were running, stopping into blocks and eventually trying to go around the blocks. That led to big gains on the ground for the Texans.

Ben Tate was filling in for injured starter Arian Foster, but the Colts almost made it look like the Texans didn’t miss a beat.  Tate rushed for a team high 116 yards and a touchdown.

To make matters worse, the Colts defensive backs were playing so far off the ball they weren’t even seen.  I don’t understand why they weren’t in press coverage and giving the defensive line more of a break.

Most plays the corners were a good 10-15 yards off the ball. Houston made them pay by calling short slant patterns.

To be an NFL cornerback that can’t play tight coverage is inexcusable.

The Colts offense wasn't much better.

The first possession had some promise with a little bit of an ability to run the ball, but got stalled out after they passed the 50.

The next two possessions though were disastrous.

Peyton Manning’s replacement, Kerry Collins, fumbled on the first play after taking a pretty good hit and the Texans recovered.  Already up 3-0, the Texans converted the Indianapolis fumble into a touchdown.

The Colts, now trailing 10-0, took the field on their own 20 and as luck would have it, Collins fumbled the exchange from center on the first play once again. The Texans recovered for great field position.

That drive, like the previous for Houston, was capped with a touchdown and the Colts quickly trailed 17-0.

The next few possessions from the Colts ended with three and outs and the Texans took control, doing whatever they wanted to do.  Another touchdown midway through the second quarter put the Texans up 24-0.

Late in half Colts punter Pat McAfee kicked a beautiful punt.  The problem was someone forgot to tell the special teams to tackle.

Texans punt-returner Jacoby Jones made a 79-yard punt return for a touchdown look routine.  It was his third punt return for a touchdown since 2008.  That made the score 31-0 heading into the break.

The second half, though, was a little bit better for the Colts.

The offense started clicking more and Kerry Collins finally put the Colts on the scoreboard with a beautiful six-yard touchdown reception by Reggie Wayne with 10 minutes left in the game.

The Colts defense forced two turnovers from the Texans in a fumble and an interception by Gary Brackett in the second half.

Other than that, the second half was pretty uneventful.

The Colts have plenty of things to work on this week and will take on the Cleveland Browns (0-1) on Sunday in Lucas Oil Stadium for the Colts home opener.

If you try and look for a bright spot from Sunday, the Colts won the second half 7-0.