Houston Texans K Kris Brown's game-winning FG attempt against Indianapolis
in early November missed and gave the Colts a 20-17 victory in Indy
(Darron Cummings/AP Photo)
Week 12 NFL Preview | AFC South | Indianapolis Colts versus Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas . . .
Indy Football Report Editor John Oehser breaks down the Week 12 NFL matchup between the Colts (10-0) and Houston Texans (5-5) . . .
PART ONE OF TWO. PART TWO HERE
THE VIBE . . .
The Indianapolis Colts' tour of desperate AFC teams continues this weekend, and that's what has made November -- while successful -- so dangerous for the conference's last unbeaten team. It's what has made it so impressive, too. Throughout the month, the Colts have played contending teams with still-percolating playoff hopes, and any such opponent early in the second half of the season is a dangerous one.
So, while the Colts have won those game in historically narrow fashion, the bigger truth is:
They won them and no matter the margin, that makes them important. And impressive.
The Colts this month beat the San Francisco 49ers, 18-14; the Houston Texans, 20-17; the New England Patriots, 35-34; and the Baltimore Ravens last week, 17-15. In so doing, they not only became the first team in NFL history to win four consecutive games by a total of 10 points or less, they became the first team in league history to win four consecutive games when trailing in the fourth quarter.
One way to look at it is that's playing on a fine line, and while that's a legitimate view, the Colts' way of looking at it -- that the league is all about knowing how to win close games -- is equally true. And it's just as true that plenty of teams have won close games during the season and gone on to play in and win Super Bowls.
The Colts have to get better, but there's legitimate reason for believing they will. They're going through a transition phase offensively right now in the sense that teams are defending TE Dallas Clark in different fashion than they have before. Great players and great offenses typically figure such things out, and there's little in the Colts' history to believe they won't get Clark back productive sooner, not later. The Colts also could still get WR Anthony Gonzalez back, not this week, but perhaps before the playoffs.
Defensively, the Colts expect to get CB Kelvin Hayden back before the playoffs, and the addition of Hayden and Gonzalez to the defense and offense are critical storylines.They could give their respective sides of the ball the solid reliable addition that could make the razor-thin margin on which the Colts are currently playing a bit more comfortable as the leave a successful November and head into an equally critical December.
THE BIG CONCERN . . .
Same as last week, and same as much of November -- the Colts' biggest concern is that they're playing against a team desperate to stay in the playoff chase. And this time, they're playing one that is not remotely intimidated by the reputation of the Colts. The Texans, despite losing their last two games in heartbreaking fashion -- on late-game missed field goals by K Kris Brown against Indianapolis and Tennessee -- have improved drastically this season. Despite their 5-5 record, they are more consistent, more solid and more ready to win late-season big games than at any time in their history. The Tennessee team they lost to last week is one of the NFL's hotter teams and they were a few feet of a missed field goal from playing overtime against the Colts three weeks ago. That Colts game, while a loss, showed much about the Texans this season. They trailed 13-0 and were a play or two from being completely out of what was generally considered the biggest game in franchise history. Teams less close to being ready to join the elite would have panicked and perhaps made the sort of silly mistakes that turn tight games into blowouts. The Texans in that game played steady and without doing anything spectaculay got back into the game quickly and had chances to win. That they didn't that weekend should in no way hurt their chances this weekend. In fact, it's hard to imagine any team aside from New England on the schedule to date that believes more in its chances to beat the Colts. A lot of teams want to believe they can win; after Indianapolis, the Texans likely know they can.
THIS WAS PART ONE OF THE TEXANS-COLTS PREVIEW | READ PART TWO HERE
Comments