Colts bury Texans, 31-0, for season sweep: Instant analysis

The Indianapolis Colts (7-6) gave the Houston Texans (2-10) no hope of a comeback in the 31-0 blowout at NRG Stadium on Sunday—making the latter the first team in the NFL to be eliminated from playoff contention.

In their first shutout since Week 15 of the 2018 season, the Colts dominated on all fronts. The offense was a bit slow to get going but eventually kicked it into gear while the defense wasn’t allowing anything to get through.

Running back Jonathan Taylor was our player of the game (shocker) after another highly-productive outing.

Here’s our instant analysis from the Week 13 win:

What went right

AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith

Basically everything.

Even when the Colts weren’t moving the ball all that well during the first half of the game, they were still moving their drives into scoring position. Once they got going, though, there was no stopping them. Every single one of the offense’s drives during the second half got into Texans territory. The aforementioned Taylor took 32 carries for 145 rushing yards and two touchdowns while wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. led the offense with six receptions on eight targets for 77 receiving yards.

Situational football was solid against the Texans. The Colts were 7-of-13 (54%) on third down and 4-of-6 (75%).

On the defensive side of the ball, the Colts were dominant. They allowed just nine first downs and 141 total yards. Both Al-Quadin Muhammad and Kemoko Turay recorded 2.0 sacks a piece while Kenny Moore recorded an interception and a forced fumble.

On special teams, Rigoberto Sanchez downed two of his punts inside the 10-yard line.

What went wrong

AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith

Not much.

The play of left tackle Eric Fisher is a bit concerning. Against a weak pass rush that was without most of its best assets, Fisher still struggled with his pass blocking. He’s failed to give the Colts a consistent and stable option on the blindside and against better competition, it can wind up hurting the offense.

Kicker Michael Badgley fell down to earth missing his first field goal since joining the Colts in Week 6. He made all four of his extra points but missed a field-goal attempt from 35 yards.

The Bottom Line

Syndication: The Indianapolis Star

The Colts needed to come out and dominate an inferior divisional opponent. They did just that in all three phases for the most part and closed out the game with authority. There isn’t much more the Colts could have done to make this win more dominant. Now, they go into the bye week looking to regroup and make a run for the playoffs in the final four games.

1

1