Novak Wins It For The Texans in OT; Texans Stay On Top Of AFC South

Oct. 17, 2016

Houston kicker Nick Novak kicked a 33-yard FG to give the Texans a come-from-behind overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts tonight. In my pregame for this division match-up, I set a game plan requirement of Texans QB Brock Osweiler to expose the weak pass defense of the Colts and to minimize the turnovers. Although Osweiler only threw 1 INT with no fumbles, he was unable to get anything going with his passing until much later in the game. That put him and his Texans offense in position to require two TDs in under 7 minutes in order to send it to OT, and that is exactly what he did.

The first half of the game was all Andrew Luck and the Colts going into halftime up 13-3 on a pair of Adam Vinatieri field goals and Luck 22-yard TD pass to Doyle. Texans did not put any points on the board until Novak hit is first FG of the night with 2 minutes left in the first half. The Texans defense came up with some exciting stops in the first half to keep the game close. With 1:57 left in the 2nd Quarter, the Texans defense picked off Luck for the only time tonight, possibly saving a TD on what seemed like a touchdown drive by the Colts. Although the Texans defense was able to hold the Colts to 13 first half points, the Colts defense only gave up a field goal and 112 total yards compared to 202 total yards for the Colts. If the first half was an indication of how the rest of the game was going to go, then the Texans were going to end up in a 3-way tie for 1st place.

The Texans defense started the second half strong, holding Luck to 0 yards on his first drive and forcing a 3 and out. After making some adjustments at half-time, Osweiler brought his offense on the field and took his first drive 82 yards for the first Texans TD of the game. Unfortunately, Novak missed the 33-yard extra point which turned out to be the difference between a Texans win at the end of regulation and the need for overtime play. Indy would go on to score 10 more points between the third and fourth quarter, making it 23-9 with 7 minutes to play. If there was a time that Osweiler needed to show up and earn is big money contract, this was it and he did just that. Brock took his offense 75 yards down the field and connected with receiver Miller on a 10-yard TD pass with 2:37 remaining in the 4th quarter. Houston's defense came on the field and held Luck to -11 yards with a sack and Gore tackle for loss to give the ball back to the Texans offense with 1:50 left to play. Once again, Osweiler hit the field, down by 7, and took his offense 53 yards on 3 plays to put 6 more on the board with a 26 yard pass to his TE Fiedorowicz. Novak connected on the extra point again but instead of leading by 1, the Texans were now tied at 23-23 with 0:49 remaining. The Colts had one last try to get into field goal range of Vinatieri and two timeouts to do it with. The Texans defense had other plans and forced a Colts punt after 5 plays giving Osweiler the ball back with 0:15 remaining. Texans ran one play to kill the clock and end regulation play.

OT: The Colts one the toss in overtime and started their only drive of OT two quick first downs. An incomplete pass, short gain, and a huge 9 yard sack by McKinney kept the Colts out of field goal range and forced a punt putting the Texans on their own 33 yard line. This set up Osweiler for the opportunity to salvage a win after a dismal start. Four plays in, he hit Strong on for an amazing deep catch in single coverage for a 36 yard gain. Brock took the ball once more and fell on the right hash mark at the Indianapolis 15, setting up Novak for his game winning 33 yard field goal.

The second half of the game was a complete turn around for the Texans, achieving 270 total yards with 179 of those coming in the last two drives of the 4th quarter and their only drive of overtime. Aside from the end of the game, the numbers show an evenly matched ball-game. Each team gave up 1 interception, Houston had 414 total yards to the Colts 392, Osweiler passed for 269 yards for 2 TDs to Luck's 252 and 1 TD, Miller ran for 149 yards with a TD and Gore for 106 yards. Although it took them a while, the Texans were able to make some big plays down the field, exposing the holes in the Colts pass defense while the Texans defense took away the deep threat in Hilton, holding him to 49 yards and no touchdowns. The Colts weren't able to hang on at the end but they will get an opportunity to make up for it in Indianapolis on December 11th.

Game Ball: Brock Osweiler should get the game ball for his amazing come-back win with a 14 point deficit however, I am going to give out two game balls this time. Brock is more than deserving for his calm and poise when it mattered most but Frank Gore accomplished something tonight that has not been done in over 50 games for the Colts by achieving over 100 yards rushing in a game against a strong Texans rush defense.