Colts Clinch AFC South with Win Over Texans, 17-10

The Indianapolis Colts struggled to move the ball against a desperate Houston Texans team, but did enough to leave with a victory. The 17-10 win clinched the Colts ninth AFC South title and a spot in the playoffs.

The Texans had a final chance to tie the game, but hadn’t scored a touchdown on offense all afternoon. Houston was down to its backup quarterback Tom Savage after Ryan Fitzpatrick suffered what appeared to be a broken leg earlier in the game.

As the Texans started to move the ball, Arthur Jones fell into Savage’s legs, hampering his mobility. On fourth and three, Vontae Davis intercepted a pass intended for DeAndre Hopkins to seal the victory for the Colts.

The win keeps the Colts home streak against the Texans alive at 13-0. In their existence, the Texans have still never won in Indianapolis (even in 2011).

Andrew Luck and the Colts offense struggled for the second week in a row. Luck missed some routine throws and the offensive line failed to give him time to find his targets down field. The Colts were held to a season low 17 points.

Luck threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown in the first quarter and might have had his worst game of the year. He completed just under 53-percent of his passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Not horrible numbers, but not what we are used to see from Luck

Despite the struggles, the Colts managed to move the ball when it mattered late in the game. They force fed running back Dan Herron the ball to eat up over five minutes of clock and give Adam Vinatieri an easy field goal to make it a seven point game.

T.Y. Hilton led the team with four receptions for 50 yards. Reggie Wayne showed up with four catches for 24 yards, but also had a bad fumble.

Wayne also competed in his 209th game as Colt, breaking a record previously held by Peyton Manning. It was also his 142nd win.

The fumble ultimately didn’t matter as Savage would immediately turn the ball back over to the Colts off a bad exchange with Arian Foster.

Tight end Dwayne Allen and receiver Hakeem Nicks were both recipients of Luck’s touchdown passes.

The Colts have feasted this season against inferior quarterbacks and the defense has kept them in the past few games. The offense has been another issue and has to become more efficient if the team is to have any success in the playoffs.

The Colts sit at 10-4 and with head southwest to face the the Dallas Cowboys next week.