Indianapolis Colts choke against Houston Texans, 26-23 in OT

The Indianapolis Colts held a 14 point lead late in the fourth, but couldn’t enough stops late against the Houston Texans to leave with a win. A chip shot in overtime gave the home team the 26-23 overtime win.

The Colts found a new way to lose Sunday night. This time by blowing a double-digit lead with just over six minutes left to play. The Colts shifted into safe play calling far too early on both sides of the ball and it allowed the Texans to force OT.

The Colts had two shots to win Sunday. They had just under a minute in regulation, with two timeouts, but couldn’t get into field goal range. They also opened up overtime with the ball but failed to move very far down field and were forced to punt, sending the game into sudden death.

The defense failed three times in a row to hold up their end of the deal and allowed Brock Osweiler, who was terrible for most of the game, to carve them apart.

Andrew Luck seemed to lack awareness for most of the night, whether it was finding the open man or adjusting his own protection. Luck completed 21-of-32 passing attempts for 252 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He also seven carries for 53 yards and a touchdown.

The Colts suffered an ugly stretch during the middle of the game that might have cost them the game. Driving to score before halftime, Luck made a terrible read that resulted in an interception in the red zone. The Colts got the ball back to start the second half, but a series of penalties on big plays killed the drive. Poor execution and a bad read took away at least three points and potentially 14.

One of the lone positives of the night was Frank Gore finally topped 100 yards (106), making it the first time a Colts running back has done so since 2012.

Up next the Colts are at the Tennessee Titans Sunday afternoon.