3 most impressive things from the Colts’ dominant win over Houston
1. Colts defense records an historic shutout
On the very first play from scrimmage, the Indianapolis defense did something they’ve been doing all season: force a turnover. It was how the game ended, though, that made Sunday special for the Colts defense.
By keeping the Texans off the board, Indianapolis not only got their first shutout of the season, but this is the franchise’s first road shutout since 1992.
This isn’t a feat that should be diminished because it was against a struggling Houston offense. In all of the road games played since 1992, there certainly had to be some poor offenses involved, but it wasn’t until today that they were blanked completely.
A lot of it had to do with the Colts’ aggressiveness in taking the ball away. In the first series, Kenny Moore intercepted a pass, and in the following series, he forced a fumble that was recovered by Xavier Rhodes.
After the two turnovers, it was just quality, stingy defense. Indianapolis limited the Texans to 141 total yards: 54 passing and 84 rushing. Houston was 3-12 on third downs and secured only nine total first downs all game.
The Colts’ defense has forced turnovers all season, but this is the cleanest they’ve looked in every other department. Yes, it was just the Texans, but Indy did a lot of good things that they can build off of for the final stretch of the season.