The Indianapolis Colts were able to improve to 3-2 on the season with a huge 27-20 victory over the Houston Texans this evening. It was a homecoming for Andre Johnson, who had struggled mightily for the Colts throughout the first four weeks of the season. Tonight was his night, however, and he put up big numbers to help the Colts get past their division rival.
Matt Hasselbeck was forced to start his second game of the season due to Andrew Luck’s shoulder injury. He played a big game as well and was able to lead big drives and come through with a clutch pass deep down the field to T.Y. Hilton to ice the game in the final minutes of the game.
Johnson ended up catching six passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns on the game. He came into this game with just seven catches for 51 yards and no touchdowns on the season. Perhaps this was the game that he needed to play in order to get back on track and be prepared to help the Colts in a big way throughout the remainder of the season.
Brian Hoyer came into the game to replace Ryan Mallett early on and never came out. He had the hot hand for the majority of the game, completing 24 of his 31 passes for 312 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. That interception practically ended the game, as he threw a lob pass deep down the middle of the field after getting drilled by Colts’ linebacker Erik Walden.
Needless to say, this was a huge win for the Colts after the 0-2 start that they began the season with.
Hasselbeck completed 18 of his 29 pass attempts for two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was very emotional following the game after being uncertain that he could even finish the game due to an illness that he had been dealing with.
Indianapolis is once again looking like a legitimate contender in the AFC now that they are beginning to turn things around. Winning without a franchise player is never easy, which has been the case for the Colts with Luck sitting on the sideline. They will now have a big chance to prove that they are legitimate title contenders again against the New England Patriots in Week 6.
Coming off of this type of performance, the Colts have to be feeling very confident. Going on the road against adversity and coming away with a win is huge for them.
Expect to see the Colts come out and give everything they have against the Patriots next week. Tom Brady and the Patriots are a much more difficult opponent than these Texans were, but Luck will likely be back on the field and hopefully Johnson has things figure out and can make a big difference for them.
