Texans Live Game Blog

Hey everybody. Huge game, again. Let’s win this one.
First Quarter

1.) Peyton and company will start at the 27. Play action to Clark to midfield. Threw it just over a leaping linebacker. Joe falls forward for a gain of four. Big third down and Peyton gets knocked over as the completion to Marvin comes up a yard short. They’ll go for it on fourth down. Timeout. You don’t punt here, obviously. Unless you are Indiana football coach Bill Lynch. Addai needed only to break the forty, but he gets 6 yards. Shifty move to get to the outside. The Colts need to get out early with 7 points. You know it’s true. 3rd and less than one. The run is blown up by an unblocked linebacker who forces Joe to the outside help. This 46 yard field goal attempt by AV has miss written all over it. Nope – cash money. Colts 3 – Texans 0.
2.) Great job of coverage on the kickoff return by Andre Davis. The Texans will start at the 17. Sage Rosenfels is in a QB. Schaub is out with an intestinal infection. Nice stuff of Slaton on both first and second downs. Andre Johnson is about a foot short on his third down reception. Great job of tackling. Brackett, Giordano, and Jackson all hit him at the same time to halt his momentum. Punt.
3.) The Colts will start at the 36 after a short return by Forsett. The run blocking is leaving something to be desired early on. Stuffed on first and second down. Diem got manhandled. Marvin snags a HUGE third down and ten exactly at the sticks. Wow. Dierdorf makes a great comparison between Johnson’s third down route and Harrison’s. Game of inches. Third and four. The refs mark Gonzalez way short of where he appeared to catch the ball. They are going for it again, wisely. Play action to Reggie for a big time gain of 36. Two feet in baby. First and goal. Addai manages a couple on first down. Santi down to the one. Manning looks great so far and Dungy’s gambling is paying off. Big third down – TOUCHDOWN. Joe “Houston” Addai punches it in. Colts 10 – Texans 0.
4.) Good blocking as Davis gets out to the 29 on the kickoff. Quick toss to Andre Johnson for 7. Owen Daniels has 9 for the first. Jackson is way off Andre Johnson and Rosenfels is starting to make it look easy. Rosenfels bootlegs and finds Owen Daniels all alone for 20 yards.
Second Quarter

1.) Texans are at the Indy 23 yard line. Time to tighten up. Or let Green bull you over for 6 yards. First and goal from the ten. The D looks off balance. Green for 3. Interference on Jackson in the end zone. Unfortunate, because there was no way Johnson was catching that ball. Touchdown, Slaton. Poor performance by the D on that particular drive. For my money, that’s as bad as they have looked all year. Colts 10 – Texans 7.
2.) Forsett returns the kickoff out past the twenty. He’s starting to scare me by doing too much. Rhodes appeared to badly misread that run. Second down – sack. Now this looks more like the 2008 season. Third and 15 and Gonzalez flat drops a brilliant pass from a scrambling Manning. Awful drive. Punt.
3.) Need a turnover. Quickly third and one after two short interior passes. Huge pass to Andre Johnson for 39 yards. Nearly outran everyone. Oh, that’s why Marlin Jackson was giving him so much room before. Should have stuck with that strategy, I guess. Third and 9, terrible direct snap to Green. He fell down, so it is hard to tell if that would have worked, but I doubt it. Field goal. Colts 10 – Texans 10.
4.) Forsett to the 29. Mike Hart didn’t hold his block long enough. The offensive line has been shaky again this week. This time they are solid as Peyton has 2+ seconds to find Clark at midfield. Addai for two. Need a two for one, if possible. Bullet to Wayne on the slant for 5. Third and 3, wow. Marvin is back, baby. He gets crushed, but snags it in traffic. Wow. First down. False start on Charlie Johnson. Thanks, big guy. Overthrows Marvin to the endzone. Coverage was there, but Marvin was out in front. Addai for three. Third and 12, Peyton underthrows it to Wayne in the endzone. Broken up. We’ll be thinking about that play tomorrow. Missed 49 yarder by AV. Not sure that is even worth attempting with a 36 year old. He did hit a 46 yarder, though.
5.) Houston is quickly driving. The second quarter has been all Texans. Two minute warning. Need to hold them to three. Big third and 2 coming up. Timeout. 6 yards to Andre Davis and a first down. We’re in serious trouble, folks. Just not enough pressure as Rosenfels finds Johnson to the five. Houston uses its last timeout. Touchdown Andre Johnson. Houston looked like the better team in the first half. 17 unanswered points. 1-3 looks like a distinct possibility. Texans 17 – Colts 10.
6.) Colts start at the 20 with under 30 seconds to play. Play action to Clark for twenty. Timeout. Pick. Well it was worth a shot.
The Colts aren’t very good at football right now. The hard part is that there isn’t a clear culprit. Both sides of the ball have looked both solid and awful at times. The Offense and Defense haven’t bothered to play well at the same time yet. The result is a team that, at this moment, would be doing very well to secure a wild card spot.
Third Quarter

1.) Davis out to the 34. Looked like they had him blown up. Driving again. The Indy D looks overwhelmed by the play of. . . Sage Rosenfels. Hey, uh, guys. Your season is on the line. Make a damn play. DZ points out that this meltdown can’t be blamed on being on the field too long. Too drops in a row saves the D’s bacon. Freeney gets a little bit of pressure. Hasn’t been very much of that today. So so so so so lucky. Punt. Touchback.
2.) The Colts O must make the Texans pay for that failed drive. It didn’t look like there was any way they’d get off the field without points scored. Nice screen for nine yards to Clark, blocked by Saturday. 2nd and 1. Well blocked first down run around the left guard by Joe for 8 yards. The Colts need to score a lot in this half. Strange fake end around to Wayne followed by a failed screen to Addai. 12 yards left by Addai to midfield. Charlie Johnson hustling ahead. AAAH. Manning misses again to Harrison. Third time today he’s had one of his boys deep and missed him. This one was egregious. Third and 8, delay of game. A good drive is unraveling. Manning under pressure dumps it to Addai who bats it in the air before finally catching it. Punt.
3.) Texans start at the 9. Need a stop. Incomplete. Good pressure. This is huge. 3rd and 1, and Slaton easily picks it up after a hard count throws the Colts off balance. Out to the 40. Where are the turnovers? Not there, but Freeney nearly had one as he strips the QB for a loss of 10. 3rd and 17, and wow. Automatic first down. Just unreal. Defensive Holding on a run. Terrible call. There was nothing there. That, my friends, was probably the play of the season. Offsides. Foster just misses a pick. Couldn’t find the ball in the air. That hurts so bad. Third and 6, and a huge conversion. Hilarious. The breaks are not going our way to say the least. Third and 7, and a quick stop. Field Goal. Those three points should never have happened. Twenty unanswered points. Texans 20 – Colts 10.
4.) Forsett runs right into a group of Texans, instead of following his blockers. The Colts need to score points and fast.
Fourth Quarter
1.) I have to admit I’m shell-shocked right now. I can’t believe we are going 1 – 3 to start 2008. It is starting to sink in. Must score drive obviously. Wayne for 16. Addai for 3. Another 3. He’s squeezing through nothing-holes. Third down and season? Sack. Thanks for playing. Punt. Touchback.
2.) Who do you even point fingers at? Everyone, I think. It’s kind of bizarre. 10 points? Sage Rosenfels? I’m glad I’m not on that flight home. I’ll let the rest of the game speak for itself.