It's not an afternoon many will want to remember, but, oddly enough, there were a handful of big plays throughout the day in the Texans 31-20 loss to Indianapolis, especially on offense. Those plays, and that passing game, will have many people wondering aloud how good this offense could be in the future.
1st Quarter - 3:19 remaining
2nd and six
+8-yard line
Texans behind 14-0
The Texans strung together their best offensive drive of the game to date after Colts RB Anthony Richardson ran in his second touchdown of the game to make the score 14-0. The Texans offense moved the ball down to the eight yard line and faced a 2nd and six eight yards from paydirt. They aligned 'Motor' Singletary next to QB C.J. Stroud with 11 personnel (one RB - Singletary and one TE - Dalton Schultz) on the field. Schultz started on the left side of the formation with Nico Collins, but motioned to the right where Tank Dell and Robert Woods were in a twins alignment. That motion created a bunch alignment to the right side of the formation and Collins all alone on the left side. The Colts, then, botched the coverage as Singletary darted to his left where Collins was. They both converged on Singletary, leaving Collins wide open up the seam. Three steps into his route, Collins threw up his hand as he ran straight up the seam but I'm not sure Stroud saw him immediately. Even more honestly, I don't know that Stroud threw that ball to Collins. Rookie WR Tank Dell ran to the back of the end zone and was moving along the back line toward Nico's side. Colts LB E.J. Speed turned his back to Collins to keep Dell from making a play. But, the ball never got all the way to Dell as Collins leapt up and snatched it out of the air for a touchdown.
During the next break, our star radio producer Robert Henslee asked "Was Stroud throwing that to Tank?" Immediately, I was like "of course, not". But, after seeing the full replay, I think C.J. WAS throwing to Tank and Collins "intercepted" it…thankfully, Nico plays for the Texans.
4th Quarter - 10:57 remaining
2nd and seven
-36 yard line
Texans trailing 31-13
I loved this play and it was two inches away from being a Robert Woods touchdown. The Texans came out in 11 personnel again with TE Brevin Jordan on the left side with Dell flanked out the same way. On the other side, Collins and Woods were in a twins alignment. Stroud sent Dell in orbit motion before the snap, heading toward Collins/Woods. Stroud gave a play action fake to RB Dameon Pierce and then immediately gave the impression that he was going to throw to Dell on the swing route. That drew the attention of the Colts CB. Meanwhile, Collins ran a hard inside slant to draw the attention of that DB and Woods then ran a wheel route up the sideline wide open. All Colts defenders were drawn to Dell and Collins and Woods was wide open. Stroud threw the ball on the money and Woods then sprinted for the end zone. Colts S Rodney Thomas II got JUST enough of Woods to force him to step out at the +39 yard line, even though it appeared that Woods might've scored a massive touchdown for the Texans. The refs were right on it, though, and marked Woods out of bounds, but not before Woods racked up a 25 yard gain.
4th Quarter - 9:54 remaining
1st and 10
+23 yard line
Texans down 31-13
The Texans started getting rolling offensively, abandoning the run game, for the most part later in the second half. So, after a number of big completions to start the quarter, the Texans sniffed the red zone. They came out in 11 personnel in a 2x2 set. Stroud had just hit TE Brevin Jordan up the seam and I thought he was going to him again. But, he had his eyes on the outside. Rookie WR Tank Dell burst up the field to sell the deep route and then broke to the outside on an out route. Tank got the DB turned with his explosive burst up the field. So, as Jordan took the safety up the seam, Dell worked back to Stroud, who dotted Tank at the first down marker. Dell, then, shook the tackle attempt and sprinted into the end zone with the first touchdown of his career.
