Coffee with the Colts: A next-day look at Indianapolis Colts' 35-27 victory over Houston (part two)

Indianapolis Colts TE Dallas Clark (David J. Phillips/AP Photo)

COFFEE WITH THE COLTS CONTINUED. PART ONE HERE.

A FEW QUICKER THOUGHTS . . .

1) Now the fans who keep criticizing RB Chad Simpson know why the Colts kept him.

2) P Pat McAfee was one of the better late-round draft selections of the Bill Polian era.

3) WR Pierre Garcon has had better statistical games than Sunday, but didn't it seem like everytime you looked, he was making a big play? And didn't it seem like he has had a lot fewer drops in the last few weeks?

HOW THE COLTS STAND . . .

1. Indianapolis (11-0). The Colts on Sunday became the fourth team since the 1970 merger to clinch a division with five games remaining. Now, the talk will be about homefield advantage and homefield advantage only. The Colts lead the AFC by three games over CincinnatiSouth by four games over Jacksonville and lead the AFC by three games over Cincinnati, San Diego and New England, each of which are 7-3. That's a huge lead, and whatever the Colts say this week to the contrary, that's the goal now.

2. Jacksonville (6-5). The Jaguars' loss to San Francisco enabled the Colts to secure a sixth AFC South title in seven seasons. Still, they're tied with the Steelers for the sixth and final AFC Wild Card position.

3. Houston (5-6). There's starting to be talk about Head Coach Gary Kubiak's job being in jeopary. If so, that's classic quick-trigger syndrome. The Texans are still improving and they're much better than they were this time last year or two years. He deserves more time.

4. Tennessee (5-6). There may be no hotter team in the AFC. The Titans have won five consecutive games, and they're a game out of the final AFC Wild Card position.

QUOTING THE COLTS

* Quoting the Colts Part One: Head Coach Jim Caldwell and President Bill Polian. Here.

* Quoting the Colts Part Two: RB Joseph Addai, S Antoine Bethea and MLB Gary Brackett. Here.

* Quoting the Colts Part Three: QB Peyton Manning and S Melvin Bullitt. Here.

* Quoting the Colts Part Four: DE Robert Mathis, LB Clint Session and WR Reggie Wayne. Here.

WHAT WE LEARNED SUNDAY . . .

The main lesson learned is one anyone watching already should have known -- that you need to be way up on the Colts in the second half if you want to beat them. The Texans dominated every part of the first half, but led "just" 20-7 and when the Colts scored on the first possession after hafltime, it was hard to remember Houston had once led by 17. That's how quickly the Colts got back in the game, and in the fourth quarter, then put it away even more quickly with a pair of touchdowns 15 seconds apart.

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW . . .

Just how good this team can be. I've written before in this space that it's hard to know good the team is, and while that's still true to a point, the intriguing question the rest of the season is how good it can be. It's odd that a team can be 11-0 and you still don't get a feeling it's close to its potential. That's not a criticism of the come-from-behind victories. That's a sign of strength, not weakness. But this team is still playing without CB Kelvin Hayden and WR Anthony Gonzalez. On Sunday, it played without DE Dwight Freeney and still figured out a way to shut down one of the NFL's best offenses in the second half. This team will have to get better to push deep in the playoffs, but at the same time, there's no reason to believe it can't.

LINKIN'

* The Indianapolis Star's Phil Richards' game story in the Indianapolis Star. Here.

* Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz says it's hard to figure just who the resourceful Colts are. Here.

* Big first half not enough for Texans. Here.

* For the Colts' defense, it was a tale of two halves, writes the Indianapolis Star's Mike Chappell. Here.

* Premature celebration may have cost Texans, Chappell writes. Here.

* Kravitz's report card. Here.

* Len Pasquerelli says the Colts' undermanned defense took charge against the Texans. Here.

* David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that for Texans, loss was a familiar story. Here.

* Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle quotes Texans CB Dunta Robinson: "You can't beat the Colts with field goals, man." Here.

* The Houston Chronicle reports that Texans WR Andre Johnson says a lack of execution cost Houston. Here.

THE LAST WORD . . .Goes to Wayne: "If you doubt yourself, then you’re done. That’s like showing a bad poker face. When they see that then you’re in trouble. Our guys just stuck with it. Our defense picked it up and we have to take care of our business on offense and get some drives going and score some touchdowns. We came in at halftime and made some corrections. We knew it was not our type of game we played in the first half, so we made some corrections and focused at one play at a time and started making some plays.”

COLTS-TEXANS PREVIEW. PART ONE. HERE

COLTS-TEXANS PREVIEW. PART TWO. HERE

WANT TO BE THE FIRST TO KNOW ABOUT THE COLTS? SUBSCRIBE TO JOHN OEHSER'S EXAMINER STORIES ABOVE

DOES PEYTON MANNING GET TOO MUCH RESPECT? HERE

MANNING: TOO EARLY TO TALK PLAYOFFS. HERE

POLIANS' CONTRACTS EXTENDED. HERE

REVIEWING BILL POLIAN'S WEEKLY RADIO SHOW

Bill Polian’s Weekly Radio Show | Part One | “Peaking not an issue for us”

Bill Polian’s Weekly Radio Show | Part Two | Media and team in parallel worlds

Bill Polian’s Weekly Radio Show | Part Three | RB Joseph Addai having “terrific year”

Bill Polian’s Weekly Radio Show | Part Four | Victory over Ravens “courageous performance”

COLTS FANS OWE RB JOSEPH ADDAI AN APOLOGY. HERE