Official Texans vs. Colts Game Thread, 11/21/2019
 

The 6-4 Texans will host the 6-4 Indianapolis Colts on Thursday Night Football this week. The Texans are coming off a 41-7 beatdown administered by the Baltimore Ravens on the road. The Colts are coming off a 33-13 home win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Winner will get the lead in the AFC South division.

Hard to say which way this goes so I'm going to refer to a pair of games in the Texan's past this year. Earlier in the year, the Texans had a pitiful showing against the Carolina Panthers at home but rebounded nicely against the Atlanta Falcons the next week. Since the Texans are coming off another similar pitiful outing against the Ravens, I'm going to say they rebound again. Of course, the Falcons are not the Colts but I think the Texans will play with more focus and cover the 4 pt. spread.....

Texans 26, Colts 17

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TV = FOX/NFLN (channel 26 local), 7:20 pm, Thursday, 11/21/2019

Announcers = (probably) Joe Buck, Troy Aikman

The line = Texans by 3½ to 4

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Sunday viewing in the Houston area:

CBS (early) = Carolina @ New Orleans, Jim Nantz, Tony Romo

FOX (early) = Seattle @ Philadelphia, Kevin Burkhardt, Charles Davis

FOX (late) = Dallas @ New England, Joe Buck, Troy Aikman

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Other prime time:

SNF = Green Bay @ San Francisco (NBC)

MNF = Baltimore @ LA Rams (ESPN)

Byes = Arizona, Kansas City, LA Chargers, Minnesota

Quite possibly the most important game for the Texans on their regular season schedule. But we all probably thought that when the schedule first came out.

I'm optimistic. Watson is a primetime player. O'Brien actually seems to be decent at getting his team to rebound. The Ravens are simply a really good football team and losing to them in Baltimore is not like losing at home to the Panthers. Teams coming home from London after a bye also have a terrible (winless?) record this season, and that now includes the Texans.

T.Y. Hilton will probably play, and he seems to live for this game every season. The Colts lost their top RB, but their team really runs the ball well regardless. Their coaching seems better.

But Watson is likely to prove again that he is the difference maker.

I wish I could be positive but the Colts routinely have our asses. We have never beaten Brisket and the loss of Mack, while daunting, probably won't hurt them much. Texans need to find a pass rush, something they lacked last week. The defensive backs we got healthy during the bye week all got re-injured in Baltimore and now we are without Reid too.

My survival card is such a mess, I'm going with the Lions over the Deadskins this week. Yes, the Lions for my final strike.

Gametime!

Texans win the toss and defer, Colts get the ball first.

One first down but then a couple of good defensive plays force the Colts to punt.

Carter fair catches at the Texan 15.

10:45 left in the 1st qtr.

1st qtr ends with the Texans going into Colt territory.

Texans have to settle for a 35-yard Fairbairn FG.

Texans 3, Colts 0

13:42 left in the half.

Colts illegally jump off our center and no call. We can’t buy a call against these guys.

After the Watson throws an INT in Texan territory, the Colts run the ball well with Brissett getting the last 5 yards for the TD.

Colts 7, Texans 3

4:28 left in the half.

Watson finds Dhop wide open in the end zone for a 35-yard TD pass.

Texans 10, Colts 7

1:53 left in the half.

Colts to attempt a 36-yard FG to end the half.....

Vinatieri is good.

Tie game.

Texans 10, Colts 10

Halftime.

Texan offense still looking sluggish...

Cole may have a knee injury.

Texan defense playing their usual hot and cold game.....

Stats are pretty close except for time of possession. Colts with 18:32, Texans with 11:28.

Texans get the ball to start the 2nd half.

Texans open the 2nd half with a decent drive highlighted by a deep ball to Fuller. Get into Colts territory but fail on 4th down, bypassing a 52 yard FG.

About 11 minutes left in the 3rd qtr.

Man, that's some bad tackling. Williams runs it in from 13 for the Colts.

Colts 17, Texans 10

5:36 left in the 3rd qtr.

This is embarrassing ‘run defense’.

Both of these coaches are moron play callers. The difference is, the Colts have better players.

Another deep ball to Fuller sets up a 36-yard FG for Fairbairn.

Doinker goes through good.

Colts 17, Texans 13

2:43 left in the 3rd qtr.

Texans could use a turnover but the Colts are just not making too many mistakes tonight....

Power went out up here about 20 minutes before kickoff. Just came back on a short time ago. Looks like we are playing typical Texans football. C'mon, Watson. Pull this one out.

Watson hits Dhop on a very nice pass for a 30-yard TD.

Texans 20, Colts 17

OK, that's better....

Fuller 6/129

Hopkins 5/82, 2 TDs

Texans face 3rd and 4 at their 47 at the 2 minute mark. Need a 1st down to bleed down the clock...

Colts with 2 timeouts, Texans with 3.

Texans 20, Colts 17

Texans manage to use the rest of the clock and hang on for the win.

Final score:

Texans 20, Colts 17

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Ah, these Texans.... burn me on the spread on my best bet in my money contest but win the game. Good win for the team nonetheless.

Important win for the Texans. They just need to beat the Titans twice to sew up the division and a home playoff game (likely against Buffalo, Pittsburgh or Oakland).

I think I'm 2-9 this year on Thursday nights. I won the Patriots and the Chiefs and that's about it. Don't care. My picks have been like crap this year anyway.

Eheh. I was up to 32nd place in the money contest I am in along about Week 8. This is a contest with over 2,000 players. At the end of the contest the top 25 will win prizes paid in Bitcoin, which I love. The Texans have just about single-handedly caused a bit of a nose-dive. Tonight was the second time I've lost a best bet by a ½ point. I was so hoping OB would kick the FG at the end, there. I'm currently at #289. It'll take several 6-0, 5-1 or a 4-2 with best bet weeks for me to get back in it....

Great win.

The intentional grounding that wasn’t called was brutal. Textbook grounding. Should have ended the threat there and instead we needed a tackle at the marker.

Watson was awful in the first half and fantastic in the second. Running game was non existent and hurt us. This is one of the first games I can recall Fuller going off and Hopkins being good in the same game.

A quick check of the standings and schedules (I'll update the "Reset" thread after the weekend's games are over) shows Houston back as the third seed with a tiebreaker over Kansas City, both 7-5. Currently Buffalo and Oakland are the wild cards.

Oakland is a strange case. The rest of their schedule looks really easy except 4 of the last 6 are on the road where they've only won once all season (not counting London). So are they better than their record or worse? This week they visit the Jets so we may have to wait for December to get an answer.

Buffalo is the other strange case. They are entering a stretch of really tough games (Cowboys, Ravens, Patriots) that could bump them out of the playoffs if they can't win at least one of them.

Pittsburgh has an easier road except for the season-ender at Baltimore but are they too banged up at this point to make a run? The Browns may have ended their season with the physical beat down they supplied and they may get to finish the job in two weeks even without Garrett.

Indy still has the Buccaneers, Saints and Panthers on their schedule Hard to see them doing better than 9-7.

Tennessee is still in the hunt but they lose practically every tiebreaker so they need to win out.

As for the Texans, a 6-2 conference record puts them in the same neighborhood as the Patriots and Ravens. Yet, despite a 7-4 record, their season point differential is at a pathetic +16. Oakland is the only AFC team that has a winning record but has allowed more points than they've scored.

You realize our margin of victory was that weird bank shot by CareBear that looked on replay like it should have missed but somehow steered back to the middle and thunked the upright. Even Kris Brown is looking good right about now.

There's actually a few places that are showing an early line for the Texans vs. Pats match-up. Pats by 4½.

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Watson was right on with the deep passes tonight - several 30-yard+ completions. I do wish he would start heading toward the sidelines when he feels the heat. Sometimes, it looks like he'll dodge the first guy and yet remain in the pocket.... It's OK to take off laterally....

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Zach Cunningham with 16 tackles. Jacob Martin with the only sack.

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The Ravens vs. the Rams on MNF should be an interesting one.... curious to see how the Rams defense does against the Ravens.....

Not sure where the Colts personell is superior outside of a couple individua situations like Darius Leonard & Quenton Nelson, though it was always a head-scratcher why an NFL team would use their 6th overall pick on an interior OLineman ?

Cunningham is underrated and finally some production from one of the players we got in the ill-advised and disasterous Clowney trade with Seattle.
Colts are pretty good but obviously not the same team without Andrew Luck.
And neither are the Texans the same offense without Will Fuller healthy and in the lineup.
After last Sunday in Baltimore didn't know what to expect int last nights game so I'm just happy we got out it with a W.
Now bring on the Patriots !

I remind myself of this before getting too excited over the win. I sit in that endzone where the kick was attempted, and off the foot it seemed like a sure miss, then I swear the ghostly hand of Bob McNair willed it back to doink in. Maybe.

Had a feeling pregame too that this game could come down to a late field goal from either team, and the kickers were CareBear and Vinatieri. Let that sink in. A possible home playoff game determined by one of those two. Would any of us be surprised if one or both were cut by this point in the season?

Totally thought the Colts were the better coached team, and I suppose I still think that, but they dominated the Texans with the run through 3 quarters and somehow decided to pass the ball down the stretch. Wha?? Thanks, I guess.

JJo has his limits. He's lost a step. He wasn't particularly great last night either, but it's hard to not root for the guy. Burned so often by T.Y. Hilton throughout his career, JJo got a small measure of revenge against a snap count-limited and somewhat gimpy Hilton last night. I don't care the excuses, I'm just happy for him. Same guy who I swear wears #24 because he routinely gives his man a 2-4 yard cushion. But whatever. He's been here darn near a decade now so he's one of us, dammit.

And Zach Cunningham. One of the most frustratingly wonderful players. Played his game last night though. Love his game speed. Probably says as much about players like DJ Reader keeping guys off Cunningham to allow him the space to move. As much as I'm loving Cunningham today, I'm sure there disappointment lurking there again soon, but he had a nice game.

Will Fuller still lacks great hands, but he is such a difference maker when he plays. Gotta find a way to keep him on the field and involved in the offense.

Will be interesting to see if Crennel can figure out a way to counter Tom Brady next week. He's been unable to in the past with much better defensive talent, so I can't say I'm optimistic.

I hope the Texans use the extra time to do a hard study of what worked for Baltimore's offense against New England. Watson is almost as elusive as Jackson and has a better arm. Hyde/Johnson are equal to the Ravens' backs. And surely our wideouts are better than B-more's. where we don't measure up is defensively but, if you noticed what the Ravens did that night was play keep-away with long drives. At their best, the Texans can do the same thing and also burn the Pats deep if they try to cheat up.

Then again, these are the Texans and these are the Patriots so you can expect the zebras to bail out Brady if they have to.

Been a Houston staple since the Luv U Blue days. Yes I'm still bitter over the outbounds ruling on Gifford"s TD to Renfro.

You're thinking of the Steelers in the AFC Championship and the QB that day was Dan Pastorini. Gifford Neilson was the backup from the Chargers playoff win in 1979, unless you were actually thinking of Frank Gifford, in which case your drugs are stronger than mine.

The evil empire in the 70's was the Steelers, now its the Patriots, in the 80's and half the 90's it was the 49ers. The NFL picks a favorite son, and the refs give them special calls. It's been happening since the merger. TV has gotten better at catching the ghost calls. And Houston has never been the team that the ghost calls worked for.

I had to go back and rewatch the play, and your memory is better than mine, it was Dan Pastorini throwing that ball. My faulty memory on that one

No sweat. My memory is getting more feeble as I age. It was 40 years ago.

Not sure if Tennessee will beat Jacksonville, but even if they do, the Titans lose the tiebreaker to Indy and then Indy loses the tiebreaker to Oakland and Pittsburgh (lost to both head-to-head) then Pittsburgh beats Oakland with a better conference record. So Buffalo keeps the 5 seed (8-3) while Pittsburgh has the 6 seed this week at 6-5.