1. Texans Good Better Than Colts Good

The Houston Texans have now won 4 straight over the Indianapolis Colts, including 3 in Indianapolis. In the battle of “good on good” Sunday it was the Texans defense getting the better of the Colts. The Texans made Jonathan Taylor work for his yards (85 rushing yards on 21 carries) and tested a banged-up Daniel Jones. With a few big drops not helping Jones, the Colts QB was just 14-of-27 on Sunday. Jones definitely had some impressive throws on Sunday. His touchdown toss to Alec Pierce, along with a couple third-quarter balls to Josh Downs were big-time throws. But his fibula injury was felt, too. If you want a glimpse into the limitations on Jones right now, take a look at a botched 4^th-and-inches attempt in the 2^nd quarter. The Colts had Jones in the shotgun with Jonathan Taylor, forgoing the usually automatic QB sneak with No. 17. Instead, it was Tyler Warren motioning over to take the direct snap, in which he fumbled it and blew up the promising drive. The Colts defense got a huge stop late in the 4^th quarter to give the offense one more shot. But needing a touchdown (see more below), the Colts stalled out just outside of the red zone, with a drop from Downs really hurting on 3^rd-and-long. Big picture, this Colts offense has shown a definite regression to the mean, as they hit the road the next two weeks.

2. Time For More Kicker Tryouts

What was a major reason why the Colts had to push for a touchdown in the game’s final few minutes? It was because of yet another missed extra point for Michael Badgley. Therefore, it is time for another rendition of Colts kicker tryouts. That’s now 3 missed extra points for Badgley in 7 games with the Colts. That’s an absolutely inexcusable number for any NFL kicker. When you have clear distance questions as a kicker, Badgley must be automatic inside of 50 yards. The Colts defense wasn’t perfect on Sunday. Too quiet of a pass rush still exists and now some secondary questions on back alive. But the unit came up with a critical late-game stop to give the offense one more shot. Of course, it was a touchdown they needed. And Badgley was why. From 2021 until Badgley’s arrival in October, the Colts had missed a total of 2 extra points (in 153 attempts). Now, Badgley has missed 3 extra points in 21 attempts. Finding a solid replacement post-Spencer Shrader injury wasn’t going to be easy. But the Colts have a kicker problem in two areas right now—one with zero trust north of 50 yards and an unreliable extra point kicker. In the year 2025, you can’t have that in the NFL, even from your backup kicker.

3. Sauce Suffers Injury

On the second defensive snap of the game, a collective gasp went across Lucas Oil Stadium as Sauce Gardner struggled to put any weight on his injured left leg. A calf injury for Gardner saw him make a brief appearance in the blue medical tent before needing further assistance into the locker room. Gardner returned to the sideline with a boot, being ruled out with a calf injury that Shane Steichen was unsure of the severity post game. Gardner said he didn’t think it was an Achilles injury, with further imaging to be done. With an unknown on the severity of Gardner’s injury, his loss would obviously be substantial. You don’t trade two first-round picks (plus AD Mitchell) without thinking you are getting one of the best players in the league at a premium position. Such a move means you are thinking/needing those short-term gains from a deal that had questions about the long-term misses with a trade. When Garnder left Sunday’s game in the 1^st quarter, the staff opted for Mekhi Blackmon over Jaylon Jones to play the outside cornerback spot opposite Charvarius Ward. Of course, “calf” injuries bring up quite the angst in this Indy market. Whereas Kenny Moore II missed 3 games with his calf injury earlier in the year, you have calf ailments that bring up the dreaded Achilles word. Steichen didn’t have an answer on that post game. Such an injury would be crippling to the blockbuster trade. For now though, a strained calf knocking Gardner out for a few games is manageable, although less than ideal. And the Colts need better play from Ward than they got on Sunday. Speaking of DBs, Sunday’s second half brought a couple of questionable pass interference penalties on each side, with the more egregious going against Kenny Moore II. Such a call was a 4-point difference in the Texans having to attempt a field goal, to re-take lead to 20-13 (instead of 16-13). And the domino of that was the Colts needing a final touchdown drive instead of a field goal to force the game into overtime.

4. New No. 1 Wideout In Indy

Sunday saw Nico Collins once again do what he does against the Colts. But this week also was another reminder that we should probably start referring to Alec Pierce as the Colts “No. 1 wideout.” He’s certainly the most threatening to an opposing defense. Plus, Pierce is showing notable growth weekly in putting more of a route tree on film. As I’ve always said, good things happen when you target Pierce. A perfect example of that was in the 3^rd quarter when Daniel Jones chucked one down the field on a 3^rd-and-18 to Pierce. The ball landed several yards out of bounds, but the threat of Pierce down there had Houston S-Calen Bullock panicking and committing a huge defensive pass interference that kept alive an eventual Colts touchdown drive. Easily one of the best plays from the Colts on Sunday came on their lone opening-half touchdown. It was Jones fitting a beautiful deep ball into the corner of the end zone, with Pierce (once again) thriving in confined space. It was Pierce hauling in the 19-yard touchdown, putting up another highlight for a big-time contract coming his way. Hell, Pierce is so gifted coming down with deep balls there he was knocking down a Hail Mary attempt right before halftime. That big pay day will be there for Pierce very soon.

5. AFC South Lead Gone

That strong grip the Colts had on the AFC South is loosening significantly. With Sunday’s loss to the Texans, the Colts are now just one game up on Houston with 5 weeks to go. And they are tied with the Jaguars, both teams sitting at 8-4. That’s now Colts losses in 3 of the last 4 weeks, with this one hurting the most, given the divisional implications. It is the first home loss of the season for the Colts as they now hit the road for two games against teams currently in the playoffs—Jaguars and Seahawks. With December here, the Colts are now in an absolute fight to try and win their first division title since 2014. And the final 5 games provide quite the task: at Jaguars, at Seahawks, 49ers, Jaguars, at Texans).

6. QUICK HITTERS

-Injury Report: The following Colts were inactive on Sunday: CB-Johnathan Edwards, S-Reuben Lowery III, RB-D.J. Giddens, TE-Will Mallory, OT-Luke Tenuta, DT-Eric Johnson II. The following players got injured and did not return: CB-Sauce Gardner (calf)

–Key Stat: Tyler Warren is now 2^nd on the Colts in touchdowns for a rookie tight tend. Warren has 4. John Mackey has the record with 7 in 1963.

-What’s Next: The Colts (8-4) are back on the road in Week 14, taking on the Jaguars (8-4) next Sunday at 1:00 PM. The Colts haven’t won in Jacksonville since the 2014 season.