Foster's big day: Running back Arian Foster ran wild against the Colts in Week 1, finishing with more than 230 yards and 30-plus carries.
Monday night in Indianapolis he was still effective, but was limited to 15 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a game-high nine passes and finished with 65 yards receiving in the loss.
In the first half, Foster ran well when given the opportunity, amassing 65 yards on eight carries. Head coach Gary Kubiak was disappointed that the Texans weren't able to run it more with Foster early, saying that the offense got "out of whack" due to an inability to convert on third down.
But Colts' head coach Jim Caldwell amongst those who were impressed with what Foster and his blockers up front have been able to do this season.
"That is a great team with a great running back and offensive line," Caldwell said.
Johnson cracks century mark, again: Wide receiver Andre Johnson registered a 100-plus yard receiving game for the 34th time in his career. On his seventh and final reception of the game, Johnson snared a 21-yarder late in the fourth quarter, and then hobbled off the field.
When asked whether or not he'd reinjured his right ankle, Johnson matter-of-factly dismissed any worries about it.
"I'm doing fine," Johnson said. "As long as I have the brace on, it's not going to get any worse. They did tell me that there would be times that I will feel soreness, especially playing on this turf because it grips more than the grass. It just got caught up a few times."
Solid returns: In the week of practice leading up to the game with the Colts, Kubiak said that wide receiver Jacoby Jones would get a chance at returning kickoffs, in addition to his punt return duties.
Jones responded by averaging 24.6 yards a return on Monday night, and on the seven kickoffs that Jones returned, six were brought out to the 29-yard line or better.
The fourth-year veteran was disappointed in the outcome of the game and said so afterwards.
"It's always our expectation to win the games," Jones said. "But this is the NFL and you have to come to work and ready to play."
Defensive improvement: Co-captain Antonio Smith called a players-only meeting for the defense early last week, imploring the unit, as well as himself, to play better than they had in the season's first six games.
Against the Colts, the Texans allowed Peyton Manning and company to score just two offensive touchdowns and forced Indianapolis into kicking a field goal on three occasions.
"Going against Peyton, obviously, it's a tough game," defensive end Mario Williams said. "But when he gets down there, to keep him out of the end zone is big. We still probably could have blocked two of those field goals."
Manning was 26-for-45 and finished with 268 passing yards, a sharp decline from the more than 400 yards he threw for in Week 1 against the Texans. It was a better effort by the young Texans secondary, but still wasn't enough. "From a defensive standpoint, we feel like we played a pretty good game," cornerback Glover Quin said. "But in this case it was not enough because they made more plays than we did. Tonight Manning put the ball in the right spot and made plays."
