HOUSTON - The Houston Texans will play the Colts again in two weeks, and they will be looking for revenge after losing Sunday.
Houston's offense went scoreless in the second half as the Colts won 26-20. Our 11 Takes on how the Texans came up short, and low, and off to the side.
We're referring of course, to this game-play in the final moments - a poor execution of a simple snap ...
Read more on that below ...
READ MORE: Snap Decision: Colts 26, Texans 20
11. Phillip Gaines is lost on the field. When he is on the field the opposing team finds him. In the first drive for the Colts, Gaines was targeted twice. Both were catches including a 21-yard T.Y Hilton touchdown.
Vernon Hargreaves drew Hilton as an assignment more often after the rough start by Gaines. Hilton cooled off in the second half but his presence was felt early.
10. The Colts brought plenty of heat on Deshaun Watson early. Some of it came via blitz and some came via winning one-on-one matchups. Ultimately after a couple of sacks and a few QB hits, Watson started using his legs.
He scrambled and hit Keke Coutee for a huge gain after rolling out of the pocket to avoid pressure.
DeForest Buckner and the Colts' defensive line were having a field day with the interior offensive line of the Texans. Zach Fulton and Nick Martin had some bad early snaps. Max Scharping did too. Senio Kelemete would play some left guard as well. He was also overmatched.
The line played horribly in the second half allowing a safety in the fourth quarter after a big defensive stop. Nick Martin's bad snap helped end the game for the Texans.
"We fought all the way to the end and we thought we were going to win it,'' coach Romeo Crennel said after the game. "I told our guys to hold their heads up. They exhibited a will to win. It's never perfect.''
True. But Houston's margin for error is to thin to be this far away from "perfect'' when it comes to the simple stuff.
9. David Johnson has been the target of a lot of valid criticism this year, but he had a solid first half. Johnson finished some tough runs, including a nice touchdown run.
"It felt good just being back with the boys, being back with the team, and playing the game that I love,'' said Johnson, returning to action following his concussion.
8. The defense again held strong against the rushing attack. It has been an impressive turnaround for the Texans on defense in that realm. Sure, like the fourth quarter against Cleveland, there are still bad moments. 28 yards in the first half when the Colts have the talent they do in the running game is a nice job by Anthony Weaver's defense.
The pressure got home a few times too with Jacob Martin getting home for a sack and A.J. Moore blitzing to earn a sack as well.
The defense stopped the Colts on a fourth-and-short rush after getting gashed earlier in the drive. It was an impressive hold on that set of downs.
7. Crennel added another reason to the list of the thousands of reasons why he shouldn't be the team's head coach next year. Under two minutes, he took a random timeout trying it seems to ice the Colts kicker.
The coach's summation: "If he had missed the field goal, boom, I would have been a genius. But he made it, so I'm a doofus.''
The Texans would get into the red zone on the ensuing drive with 17 seconds left. After running two plays in nine seconds, Crennel elected to kick the field goal on third down with eight seconds left. That was unacceptable. The potential for points on third down is far greater than not getting any points because of a sack or taking too much time.
6. There should only be 20 games left in Whitney Mercilus' time with the Texans. He produced next to nothing today. He did not record a tackle.
His extremely bloated contract, from when he was surprisingly extended at the end of the last season, all but guarantees his spot on the team next season. Mercilus will carry a $12 million cap hit next season.
5. Brandin Cooks took a scary hit on a bogus interception and left the game with a concussion. The wide receivers were already shorthanded but this meant more time for Chad Hansen.
Hansen was a practice squad elevation for this game. It was his first regular-season action since 2017. He had a nice day with over 100 receiving yards.
4. J.J. Watt still has plenty of juice left to his game which will make for an interesting offseason if he keeps this up through the final month.
Watt mauled the offensive line of the Colts executing three takedowns of the Colts running backs for a loss and sacked Philip Rivers despite being taken to the ground by the Colts offensive line.
3. T.Y. Hilton had his way with the Texans as usual. In the first quarter alone Hilton had five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown.
He dominates the Texans in Houston. He would finish the day with eight catches and 110 yards.
2. Keke Coutee showcased in this game why it was always silly to have him relegated to the doghouse for a couple of mistakes. Coutee made more than a few plays early including taking a route deep when Watson extended a play.
He hauled in this tough catch.
When Coutee is capable of this, it makes the presence and investment of Randall Cobb maddening. The team had a capable slot receiver but the previous head coach had it out for him for small mistakes.
He went over 100 yards on the day, something previous slot receiver Randall Cobb had not done this season.
Crennel on Coutee: "He's a good player for us."
1. Deshaun Watson had some "wow" inducing moments, but the offensive line made him take some chances today he usually doesn't take. His NFL-best streak of no interceptions went away as he threw his first pick since Week 5.
He creates so much with his legs and his eyes are better than ever when scrambling and trying to make something happen. He had to play superhero Sunday and unfortunately it wasn't in his powers to will the Texans to victory.
Watson after the game was clearly taking the loss hard.
"This shit hurts. I am tired of losing."
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Colts 26, Texans 20: 11 Takes on Coming Up Short - State of The Texans
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