Football can be a cruel game at times. Sunday’s game at Reliant Stadium showed us why a 17-point lead with less than four minutes to play doesn’t guarantee a win in the NFL.
The Indianapolis Colts spoiled the Texans’ home opener on Sunday at Reliant Stadium by scoring 21 points in two minutes and 10 seconds late in the fourth quarter in an unbelievable collapse by Houston.
The Texans were forced to play their first three games on the road due to damage to Reliant Stadium caused by Hurricane Ike. The Texans lost all of those games but could at least look forward to spending the next four games at home.
With a victory over the Colts, the Texans would’ve been 1–3 and could look forward to hosting Miami, Detroit, and Cincinnati, who were a combined 1–9 prior to Sunday’s action. Things would’ve been looking promising.
But it’s a tall order for the Texans to beat Indy. Prior to Sunday’s robbery of a win, Indy had an 11–1 all-time record against the Texans.
Houston QB Sage Rosenfels had a terrific first 56 minutes of the game, after standing in for Matt Schaub, who went down with an illness on Saturday night.
Rosenfels sliced through the Indy defense, guiding his offense to 27 straight points against Peyton Manning and the Colts who had taken a 10–0 lead in the first quarter.
Rosenfels’s favorite target was big wide receiver Andre Johnson, who caught nine balls for 131 yards. Rookie running back Steve Slaton scored two TDs and ran for 93 yards on 16 carries.
Houston’s defense frustrated the Colts offense and Rosenfels had put up a credible and efficient performance—until late in the fourth quarter.
Three Turnovers in 10 Plays
Leading 27–17 with under four minutes to play, conventional wisdom is to run the ball and take time off the clock. Instead, Rosenfels attempted to run it himself and instead of being conservative, he went airborne and fumbled on the way down.
Colts linebacker Gary Brackett recovered the fumble and ran 68 yards to the end zone. But the Texans still had a three-point lead and would get another chance to shut the game down.
On the third play after the Indy kickoff, Rosenfels attempted to evade the Indy pass rush without protecting the football properly. Indy defensive end Reggie Mathis hit Rosenfels’s arm, knocking the football loose. Mathis would complete the “double-play” by recovering the fumble.
From the Houston 20-yard line, Manning would take two plays to put Indy in front 31–27. Reggie Wayne pulled off an incredible catch while staying in bounds to score the touchdown.
Rosenfels’s head had to be spinning at this point as he threw away, in two minutes, what had taken 56 minutes to build. Rosenfels would throw an interception on Houston’s final possession.
“That game certainly ran the whole gamut of emotions for us. I’ve never been involved in one quite like that,” said Colts coach Tony Dungy after the game.
The Colts went AWOL after putting up a 10-point lead, but they returned in the final two minutes when it counted.
“I thought we had that passion at the end but it was missing in the middle of the game,” continued Dungy.
“We got some breaks to win it.
“Unfortunately, I think Sage Rosenfels was trying to make some plays but they didn’t work out for them.”
“[Rosenfels] tried to do too much at the end of the game,” noted Boomer Esiason on CBS’s post-game show.
It’ll certainly be a home opener that Texans fans won’t soon forget, however, it won’t be for all the right reasons. Indy improved to 2–2 while the Texans fell to 0–4.
Dungy finally added, referring to his own team’s performance: “That’s what the NFL is all about. You gotta play 60 minutes.” His comment applies equally to the Texans.
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