What looked to be another Thursday Night Football blowout between the Houston Texans & Indianapolis Colts actually turned out to be an exciting game that was only decided when Ryan Fitzpatrick fumbled the ball on the Texans final possession. The Texans fell 33-28 to the Colts, dropping their record to 3-3. With the victory, the Colts claimed the top spot in the AFC South with a 4-2 record.
Here is what we like to call the Pick 6, or the main 6 takeaways from this game …
No pass rush, blown coverages, and missed tackles
Did the Colts waste a roster spot Thursday evening on a punter? The Colts offense under Houston native Andrew Luck could not be stopped on Thursday night, shredding the Texans defense in all directions. Luck was 25 of 44 for 370 yards & 3 TDs, with Texans killer T.Y. Hilton accounting for 223 of them.
As was evident under Wade Phillips last year & Romeo Crennel this year, the Texans lack a consistent pass rush. J.J.Watt was consistently double-teamed & the others up front couldn’t generate much of a rush, although J.J somehow broke through the line & managed a couple of sacks.
Jared Crick played one of his better games & Justin Tuggle had an interception, but those kind of contributions were few & far between. The Colts were 6 of 8 on 3rd down attempts in the first half & 8 of 16 for the game, with the Texans unable to get a big stop when they really needed them.
When Luck has time to throw & is not pressured, which was the case most of the night, he will find his targets. And the Texans just ought to assign double coverage to T.Y. Hilton every time they see them, because he owns them.
J.J. Watt is cementing his role as a Texas legend
Move over, Sam Houston. Ok, it’s redundant, but J.J. Watt is the best defensive player in the NFL with his third TD on the season (one coming on offense). His 45 yard fumble 
recovery for a TD brought the score to 33-28, and nearly brought the house down with a deafening roar.
It’s scary to think what the final score would’ve been without him on the field. J.J. even tackled a runner for a loss & batted down a Luck pass when the Colts could seal the game with a win with 2:22 left, giving the Texans a fighting chance. J.J. had 2 sacks, 7 tackles, 3 passes defended & the fumble recovery for a TD – he is a machine.
The Texans continue to be plagued by slow starts
Why elect to receive the ball at the beginning of the game if the team really doesn’t get going until the 2nd quarter? OK, just a tad sarcastic there, but the slow starts are nothing new.
Yet again, the Texans offense was non-existent & had too many 3 & outs early in the game. Pass protection from the offensive line was spotty, and Ryan Fitzpatrick couldn’t muster anything in the first quarter when he was called upon to throw.
The Texans also fell victim to an onside kick, catching them asleep at the wheel & which gave the Colts a 10-0 lead. The flip side of this is that the Texans were able to make adjustments & get better as the game went along, but playing from behind against a team like the Colts is usually going to spell doom.
It is getting closer & closer to Ryan Mallett time in Houston
There were reports by Ian Rappaport on NFL.com that only a losing streak would force the Texans to make a change at QB. With the Texans 2nd loss in a row, that time may be sooner rather than later.
While Andrew Luck was staking the Colts to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter, Ryan Fitzpatrick was 0-4 in pass attempts & engineering 3 & outs. He finished the game 15 of 23 for 212 yards, getting better as the game wore on & even making some nice completions to Andre Johnson & Damaris Johnson.
Fitzpatrick has been gritty & always giving maximum effort, but he is who he is. When the Texans needed him to perform the best with the game on the line, he wasn’t able to deliver & fumbled the ball. That was the ballgame. Ryan Mallett might be called upon soon just for the sake of seeing what someone else could do with the reins of the offense.
Arian Foster was in vintage form
Back in the days of the Houston Oilers (or Earlers), Earl Campbell was the focal point of the offense, carrying the ball to NFL rushing titles & his team to the AFC playoffs. Arian is rekindling thoughts of Earl the way he is setting the tone for the Texans offense. He ended up with 20 carries for 109 yard & 2 TDs, and is having a huge year except for one bad game against the Bills, when he was dealing with a hamstring injury.
Andre Johnson climbed to the top of the mountain & then fell into the valley
Andre Johnson illustrated again why he is one of the best receivers in the NFL. Not only did he top 13,000 yards the quickest in NFL 
history behind only the legendary Jerry Rice, he also snagged his first TD catch of the season on a bullet thrown by Ryan Fitzpatrick in the end zone & had a big catch down the sideline to set up an Arian Foster TD.
However, Johnson also had a crucial fumble when the Texans were driving late in the 4th quarter that proved to be costly. Of course Andre is never one to back down from accountability, and said after the game that the fumble was his fault & “it’s probably why we lost.”
