For the third consecutive year, the Texans went into Lucas Oil Stadium and won a football game.
That's not as rare an occurrence over the past 11 seasons, but the three times in a row...that thing? That's never happened before.
The Texans had never won three straight at Indianapolis, but did just that on Sunday. Let's dive into what else stood out in my Harris Hits from Indianapolis.
1) Yes, winning three times in Indianapolis, beating three different Colts QBs in Indy in the process, is an accomplishment for sure. How about this one…the Texans have won NINE straight road division games, dating back to a win in Nashville in November 2021. They now have won three straight in each of Nashville, Indianapolis and Jacksonville. Plus, they won the first game of the season for the first time since 2021 and just the second time since 2017.
2) Let's discuss the chaos at the end of the half. I still don't understand a freakin' thing that happened. With 18 seconds remaining, QB C.J. Stroud threw a dart to Dalton Schultz for a short completion. As he hit the ground, Schultz fumbled the ball but it was recovered by Dare Ogunbowale. Immediately, the Texans moved up to the LOS and spiked the ball with just five seconds remaining. Just after the spike, referee John Hussey said that the previous play needed to be reviewed. Then, it was announced that the Colts had called a time out. Minutes passed as Hussey reviewed the play and he announced that the play stood and there were 15 seconds on the clock. Then, he huddled up and changed the call saying that there were five seconds on the clock. But, he never explained HOW we got to five seconds. That's my issue. The change from 15 to five, then running the clock on his whistle. None of it made sense at all and the Texans confusion cost them three points, more than likely, and that was irritating to say the least. Okay, I'm done with that one.
3) I can't tell you what it was like to see RB Joe Mixon HAMMER and HAMMER and HAMMER the Colts front over and over and over again. Since DeForest Buckner arrived to play alongside Grover Stewart in 2020, the Texans haven't been able to generate much of a run game at all against the Colts defensive front. Then, Sunday happened. Well, actually, Day 2 of the legal tampering period happened when the Texans traded for Mixon. It was clear in practice that he just ran with a different vibe, pace and tempo. I mean, he hit holes in a blink, but when he got injured early in camp, people just weren't sure what to expect.
4) So, for many, today was a major surprise, but, during training camp, I could see Joe's burst was still present and when he had a brilliant day against the Rams in a joint practice, I knew it could still happen. But, perhaps, not like this. Heading into the game I thought, give me 80 total offensive yards and a tuddy. Oh man, it was WAY more than that. It was HOW he ran. He made blocks right for his OL. He allowed that OL to come off the ball and just hammer physically and Mixon then took care of the rest. 30 carries. 159 yards. One TD. Every single run with speed, power and pop in his pads. He kept coming and coming and the Colts paid the price. Think about this: the two starting Colts safeties Nick Cross and Julian Blackmon combined for 27 tackles. Throw in Jaylon Jones' nine tackles and Julius Brents seven and the Colts secondary combined for 43 tackles. Many of those 43 stops were on Mixon.
5) The Texans ran 76 plays on Sunday. SEVENTY SIX! Because of the way Mixon controlled the ball and the game, they just played keep away, so to speak. Also, when was the last time the Texans got into a 4-minute offense situation and ran the clock out? If there's a team that would know what I'm about to say, it's the Colts. Allowing this OL the opportunity to just fly off the ball and hit someone in the mouth was the perfect tonic for this group. There were just wide open running lanes because of the work that LT, Kenyon, Juice, Shaq and Tytus did on Sunday.
6) All offseason Marc Vandermeer and I wondered who would catch the first TD pass of the season and it seemed obvious, but the right guess was Stefon Diggs. It came off of a beautiful scheme too. This is how I described it in my Big Play Breakdown just after the game…
The Texans trailed by one early in the second quarter of this one and truly needed to get into the end zone after two LONG field goals from K Kaimi Fairbairn. So, on 3rd-and-6 from the 10-yard line, the Texans put three receivers to the field (on the right side). Nico Collins was the most inside WR (labeled as the #3), while Tank Dell was the next inside WR (labeled as the #2). That put Stefon Diggs as the widest WR, labeled as the number one wide receiver. On the snap, Nico and Tank FLEW upfield to essentially clear out the underneath area. It looked like the Colts were in some sort of Tampa two on the goal line so when Nico went up the field, Colts LB Zaire Franklin ran with him. That opened a HUGE void in the middle. Diggs then sprinted right into that void and by the time Colts DB Kenny Moore realized what was happening, he was too late trying to cover for his LB pal. QB C.J. Stroud ripped a fastball to Diggs at the 5-yard line, who lunged over the goal line for the Texans first TD of the year.
7) Brilliant. It was great to see Diggs get that first impactful play early in this game, but he came up with another one in the fourth quarter as well. Again, this is from my Big Play Breakdown…
Oh man, it was time to sweat a bit with it being fourth down in a GOTTA HAVE IT SITUATION. The Texans ran the good 'ol sprint left option. Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins were split out to the left side of the formation and the Colts played man coverage against that duo. It's a route that I saw the WR working on FOR-EV-ER in one of the practices this week. They repped all the options on that route, but when Nico ran his route up the field to the back pylon, there was all kinds of room near the pylon. As such, Stefon broke immediately to the pylon and he had yards of room to work and he had two steps, at a minimum, on the inside cover man. Stroud sprinted to his left and dotted Diggs in the end zone for his second TD of the day.
8) Sprint Left Option for the win! Good day getting the big three receivers involved, but again, the Colts couldn't stop Nico Collins. In the last three games against the Colts, two of them in Lucas Oil Stadium
Week 2, 2023 - 7 for 146 yards and a TD
Week 18, 2023 - 9 for 195 yards and a TD
Week 1, 2024 - 6 for 117 yards
Three consecutive games against the Colts, three 100-yard performances. In total, 22 catches for 458 yards and two TDs. Just incredible. Then, there's the catch on 3rd-and-11 on the final drive. Are you kidding me? He and C.J. Stroud have been in sync throughout training camp and that's exactly what that completion was all about. I was thinking exactly like some Texans fans - Nico is becoming the T.Y. Hilton to the Colts as T.Y. was to us forever.
9) Oh, okay, let me get to this. The Colts have a ceremonial anvil hammer person to start every game. So, the Colts brought Hilton in on Sunday to do it. He hit the anvil once, twice, three times or so and then started raising his arms to the crowd. Then, he turned around…AND PUT ON THE FREAKIN' CLOWN MASK. Then, the Texans clowned the Colts, for the most part.
10) Throughout this offseason, I had so many people ask me about the defensive interior. Some of the ardent fans started getting mad at me, like I MADE the decisions. "YOU DIDN'T DO ENOUGH, JOHN!" I mean, seriously, that's the way plenty of fans talked to me about it. But, as training camp progressed, I kept seeing Folorunso Fatukasi and Mario Edwards Jr. making one play after the other. As much as I tried to tell people not to panic, that this IDL group was better than they expected, I just got pushback everywhere. Okay, what now? Sure, it's one game, but both sacks came courtesy of those two interior dudes. They each had a TFL. They each had a sack. They each had a QB hurry, the only two on the day. Look, it may not be perfect, but do you now believe what it can be?
11) How good was #7 on Sunday? The throwback to Nico across the field on third down in the third quarter. The throw to Nico on 3rd down late in the fourth quarter. Dots and dimes all day. How about the throw to Brevin Jordan from Stroud's knees in the first quarter. He was under pressure throughout the first half with three sacks, but took just one in the second half. Even under that pressure, he just kept making clutch throw after clutch throw. Just ridiculous and we are so lucky to have that man playing QB and leading this team.
12) Speaking of clutch, how about Kai'mi Fairbairn? Not one, not two, but three 50+ yard field goals in the opener. MASSIVELY CLUTCH! ESPN superstar Adam Schefter tweeted/posted later in the day that Fairbairn and Rice University alum Chris Boswell were the first two kickers in NFL history to hit THREE 50-yard field goals in a regular season opening game. Also, Schefter noted that it was the first time that multiple kickers converted three 50-yard field goals in the same week. History, baby! And, it could've been FOUR for Kai'mi had the end of the half not gotten so wonky.
Okay, that's going to do it for the Harris Hits from the first glance at this game. I'll go back over the game tape and have more thoughts on All-Access radio this week too. See ya then, everyone!
