INDIANAPOLIS 21,
HOUSTON 7
WHEN: 4:35
PM ET, Saturday, January 5, 2019
WHERE: NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
TEMPERATURE: Dome
HEAD OFFICIAL: Bill Vinovich
ATTENDANCE: 71798
WHERE: NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
TEMPERATURE: Dome
HEAD OFFICIAL: Bill Vinovich
ATTENDANCE: 71798
Andrew Luck paced an efficient offense, and the visiting Indianapolis
Colts continued their torrid play, defeating the Houston Texans 21-7 on
Saturday in an AFC wild-card playoff game.
With the win, the sixth-seeded Colts will face the
top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs next Saturday at 4:35 p.m. ET at Arrowhead Stadium.
Luck finished 19 of 32 for 222 yards and two touchdowns
as the Colts, who won nine of their last 10 regular-season games to clinch a
playoff berth, earned their first postseason win since the 2014 divisional
round. Indianapolis finished 9 of 14 on third downs, including 6 for 6 in the
first half en route to a 21-0 lead.
That third-down prowess yielded three touchdowns over the
opening four possessions, with the Colts' third drive concluding in the red
zone after Texans nose tackle Brandon Dunn picked off a pass deflected by
defensive end J.J. Watt. Trailing 14-0 early in the second quarter, the Texans
managed only 4 yards on the ensuing possession before punting from their 19.
Luck, having already engineered scoring drives of 75 and
74 yards, briskly covered 65 yards in seven plays. That march culminated in a
Dontrelle Inman 18-yard touchdown catch to make it 21-0 with 6:24 left in the
half. A snap before the touchdown, Texans rookie safety Justin Reid separated
tight end Eric Ebron from the ball in the end zone, momentarily preventing the
Colts from taking a three-score lead.
The Texans were undone by mental miscues and an
unexpectedly inaccurate showing from quarterback Deshaun Watson, who made his
postseason debut. Watt and Whitney Mercilus were both flagged for neutral-zone
infractions on third down in the first half, enabling the Colts to convert on
third-and-short on drives that ended in touchdowns: A Luck-to-Ebron 6-yard pass
at the 10:32 mark of the first, and a 2-yard run by Marlon Mack with 4:03 left
in that quarter.
Mack rushed for 148 yards on 24 carries. T.Y. Hilton
added five catches for 85 yards, including three receptions for 63 yards on the
opening possession. Indianapolis amassed 422 total yards and did not surrender
a sack, as the Texans hit Luck just four times.
With Houston trailing 14-0, Watson misread the coverage
on fourth down and tossed an interception to Colts cornerback Kenny Moore II,
who undercut Ryan Griffin. It was one of three fourth-down failures by Houston.
In the second half, following a rare penetration into
Colts territory, Watson overthrew tight end Griffin to squander what was a
golden scoring opportunity.
Watson finished 29-of-49 passing for 235 yards plus a
6-yard touchdown to Keke Coutee with 10:57 left to play. Coutee had 11
receptions for 110 yards, while All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins recorded five
catches for 37 yards.
Hopkins told reporters postgame he suffered a grade 3 AC
joint sprain in his right shoulder in the first half and played through the
injury.
Houston was shut out prior to halftime for the first time
this season. The Colts, meanwhile, averaged 7.3 yards per play while building
what proved to be an insurmountable lead against the AFC South champions. It
marked Indianapolis' second victory at NRG Stadium this season.
With the Colts' win, the second-seeded New England
Patriots will host the winner of Sunday's Chargers-Ravens wild-card game.
TOP GAME
PERFORMANCES
RUSHING
|
INDIANAPOLIS
|
|
HOUSTON
|
|
MARLON MACK
|
PLAYER
|
DESHAUN WATSON
|
|
24
|
Attempts
|
8
|
|
148
|
Yards
|
76
|
|
6.2
|
Avg Yards
|
9.5
|
|
1
|
Touchdowns
|
0
|
|
29
|
Long
|
21
|
RECEIVING
|
INDIANAPOLIS
|
|
HOUSTON
|
|
T.Y. HILTON
|
PLAYER
|
KEKE COUTEE
|
|
5
|
Receptions
|
11
|
|
85
|
Yards
|
110
|
|
17.0
|
Avg Yards
|
10.0
|
|
0
|
Touchdowns
|
1
|
|
38
|
Long
|
20
|
TEAM STATS SUMMARY
|
|
Yards
|
Scoring
|
Defense
|
|||||
|
TEAM
|
Tot
|
Rus
|
Pas
|
TD
|
FG
|
INT
|
Sck
|
FF
|
|
INDIANAPOLIS
|
422
|
200
|
222
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
3.0
|
0
|
|
HOUSTON
|
322
|
105
|
217
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0.0
|
0
|
Final Scoring Summary
|
Final
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
T
|
|
Indianapolis
|
14
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
21
|
|
Houston
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
7
|
SCORING SUMMARY
|
FIRST QUARTER
|
IND
|
HOU
|
|
|
Colts
|
TD
10:32
Eric Ebron 6 Yd
pass from Andrew Luck (Adam Vinatieri Kick)
9 plays, 75
yards, 4:28
|
7
|
0
|
|
Colts
|
TD
4:03
Marlon Mack 2
Yd Run (Adam Vinatieri Kick)
9 plays, 74
yards, 5:25
|
14
|
0
|
|
SECOND QUARTER
|
IND
|
HOU
|
|
|
Colts
|
TD
6:24
Dontrelle Inman
18 Yd pass from Andrew Luck (Adam Vinatieri Kick)
7 plays, 65
yards, 3:23
|
21
|
0
|
|
FOURTH QUARTER
|
IND
|
HOU
|
|
|
Texans
|
TD
10:57
Keke Coutee 6
Yd pass from Deshaun Watson (Ka'imi Fairbairn Kick)
16 plays, 89
yards, 6:13
|
21
|
7
|
TEAMS
Team Stats
|
|
Indianapolis
|
Houston
|
|
1st Downs
|
26
|
20
|
|
Rushing
|
10
|
7
|
|
Passing
|
14
|
13
|
|
Penalty
|
2
|
0
|
|
3rd Down Conversions
|
9-14
|
3-13
|
|
4th Down Conversions
|
0-0
|
2-5
|
|
Punts-Average
|
4-37.0
|
5-46.8
|
|
Return Yards
|
30
|
26
|
|
Punts-Returns
|
2-20
|
0-0
|
|
Kickoffs-Returns
|
0-0
|
1-26
|
|
Int - Returns
|
1-10
|
1-0
|
|
Penalties-Yards
|
2-10
|
8-67
|
|
Fumbles-Lost
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
|
Time of Possession
|
31:14
|
28:46
|
|
Total Net Yards
|
422
|
322
|
|
Total Plays
|
67
|
68
|
|
Average Gain
|
6.3
|
4.7
|
|
Net Yards Rushing
|
200
|
105
|
|
Rushes
|
35
|
16
|
|
Average/Rush
|
5.7
|
6.6
|
|
Net Yards Passing
|
222
|
217
|
|
Comp-Att
|
19-32
|
29-49
|
|
Yards/Pass
|
6.9
|
4.2
|
|
Sacked-Yards Lost
|
0-0
|
3-18
|
|
Had Intercepted
|
1
|
1
|
|
Touchdowns
|
3
|
1
|
|
Rushing
|
1
|
0
|
|
Passing
|
2
|
1
|
|
Other
|
0
|
0
|
|
Extra Points
|
3-3
|
1-1
|
|
Field Goals
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
|
Red Zone Efficiency
|
3-4-75%
|
1-2-50%
|
|
Goal To Go Efficiency
|
2-2-100%
|
0-0-0%
|
|
Safeties
|
0
|
0
|
PLAYER STATS
Indianapolis
Colts (11-6)
|
Passing
|
||||
|
|
COMP/ATT
|
YDS
|
TD
|
INT
|
|
A. Luck
|
19/32
|
222
|
2
|
1
|
Houston Texans (11-6)
|
Passing
|
|||||||
|
|
COMP/ATT
|
YDS
|
TD
|
INT
|
|||
|
D. Watson
|
29/49
|
235
|
1
|
1
|
|||
|
Rushing
|
|||||||
|
|
ATT
|
YDS
|
AVG
|
TD
|
LG
|
||
|
M. Mack
|
24
|
148
|
6.2
|
1
|
29
|
||
|
A. Luck
|
8
|
29
|
3.6
|
0
|
10
|
||
|
Z. Pascal
|
1
|
14
|
14.0
|
0
|
14
|
||
|
J. Wilkins
|
2
|
9
|
4.5
|
0
|
6
|
||
|
Rushing
|
|||||||||||
|
|
ATT
|
YDS
|
AVG
|
TD
|
LG
|
||||||
|
D. Watson
|
8
|
76
|
9.5
|
0
|
21
|
||||||
|
L. Miller
|
5
|
18
|
3.6
|
0
|
8
|
||||||
|
A. Blue
|
2
|
8
|
4.0
|
0
|
4
|
||||||
|
D. Foreman
|
1
|
3
|
3.0
|
0
|
3
|
||||||
|
Receiving
|
|||||||||||
|
|
TAR
|
REC
|
YDS
|
AVG
|
TD
|
LG
|
|||||
|
T. Hilton
|
10
|
5
|
85
|
17.0
|
0
|
38
|
|||||
|
D. Inman
|
4
|
4
|
53
|
13.2
|
1
|
21
|
|||||
|
C. Rogers
|
5
|
4
|
46
|
11.5
|
0
|
16
|
|||||
|
E. Ebron
|
6
|
3
|
26
|
8.7
|
1
|
15
|
|||||
|
M. Mack
|
3
|
2
|
6
|
3.0
|
0
|
6
|
|||||
|
Z. Pascal
|
3
|
1
|
6
|
6.0
|
0
|
6
|
|||||
|
Receiving
|
|||||||||
|
|
TAR
|
REC
|
YDS
|
AVG
|
TD
|
LG
|
|||
|
K. Coutee
|
14
|
11
|
110
|
10.0
|
1
|
20
|
|||
|
L. Miller
|
10
|
8
|
63
|
7.9
|
0
|
12
|
|||
|
D. Hopkins
|
10
|
5
|
37
|
7.4
|
0
|
13
|
|||
|
A. Blue
|
2
|
2
|
11
|
5.5
|
0
|
6
|
|||
|
J. Akins
|
3
|
2
|
8
|
4.0
|
0
|
7
|
|||
|
R. Griffin
|
5
|
1
|
6
|
6.0
|
0
|
6
|
|||
|
V. Smith
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|||
|
D. Foreman
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|||
|
Interceptions
|
|||||||||
|
|
NO.
|
YDS
|
TD
|
||||||
|
K. Moore II
|
1
|
10
|
0
|
||||||
|
Interceptions
|
|||||
|
|
NO.
|
YDS
|
TD
|
||
|
B. Dunn
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Sacks
|
|||||
|
|
NO.
|
YDS
|
|||
|
A. Muhammad
|
1.0
|
9.0
|
|||
|
K. Moore II
|
1.0
|
9.0
|
|||
|
H. Ridgeway
|
0.5
|
0.0
|
|||
|
G. Stewart
|
0.5
|
0.0
|
|||
|
Sacks
|
|||
|
|
NO.
|
YDS
|
|
|
No sacks
|
|||
|
Tackles
|
|||
|
|
Tk
|
Ast
|
|
|
K. Moore II
|
5
|
1
|
|
|
C. Geathers
|
5
|
4
|
|
|
D. Leonard
|
5
|
8
|
|
|
Q. Wilson
|
4
|
1
|
|
|
P. Desir
|
4
|
1
|
|
|
A. Muhammad
|
2
|
0
|
|
|
K. Turay
|
2
|
0
|
|
|
M. Mitchell
|
2
|
0
|
|
|
M. Hunt
|
2
|
1
|
|
|
A. Walker
Jr.
|
2
|
4
|
|
|
G. Odum
|
1
|
0
|
|
|
M. Hooker
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
G. Stewart
|
0
|
1
|
|
|
Z. Franklin
|
0
|
1
|
|
|
H. Ridgeway
|
0
|
2
|
|
|
J. Sheard
|
0
|
3
|
|
|
Tackles
|
||
|
|
Tk
|
Ast
|
|
T. Mathieu
|
8
|
0
|
|
Z. Cunningham
|
5
|
2
|
|
B. McKinney
|
5
|
4
|
|
J. Joseph
|
4
|
2
|
|
K. Jackson
|
3
|
1
|
|
D. Reader
|
3
|
3
|
|
J. Watt
|
2
|
0
|
|
J. Reid
|
2
|
1
|
|
D. Cole
|
2
|
2
|
|
J. Clowney
|
2
|
3
|
|
D. Ejiofor
|
1
|
0
|
|
B. Dunn
|
1
|
0
|
|
A. Hal
|
1
|
1
|
|
W. Mercilus
|
0
|
1
|
|
Tackles For Loss
|
||
|
|
NO.
|
|
|
A. Muhammad
|
1.0
|
|
|
K. Turay
|
1.0
|
|
|
K. Moore II
|
1.0
|
|
|
Tackles For Loss
|
|
|
|
NO.
|
|
J. Watt
|
1.0
|
|
Fumbles
|
|
|
|
NO.
|
|
No fumbles
|
|
|
Fumbles
|
|
|
|
NO.
|
|
No fumbles
|
|
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