A Third Victory for the Horseshoe
The Colts scored a hard fought win last Sunday (Nov. 5) at Houston against the Texans. The Horseshoe found the Texans reeling from the loss of their All-Star rookie quarterback DeShawn Watson from a practice injury. Watson tore his ACL in a scrimmage and he is done for the season. So are the hopes of the Texans for a playoff run. The team’s number one pick in the 2017 draft had been performing at a record breaking level and had impressed the league with his performance against Seattle the previous Monday night. Without their star to cover them the Texans were vulnerable.
The Colts jumped on the moment quickly with quarterback Jacoby Brissett finding T.Y. Hilton on a 45-yard score. Hilton had called out the offensive line for giving up ten sacks on Brissett the week before so he had something to prove. Brissett looked a bit more confident against a banged up Houston defense and was making some solid throws. In the second quarter “Automatic” Adam Vinatieri banged a 22-yard field goal. Late in the second quarter the Colts seemed to be driving for another score when Brissett went back to pass looking deep for Hilton. He held on to the ball way too long and was hit and stripped of the pigskin by Lamar Houston. Houston rambled 34 yards for a Texan touchdown. So it was 10-7 the Colts at the half.
In the second half they came up with what will probably be their offensive play of the year. Brissett hit Hilton on an 11-yard crossover. Hilton threaded his way through the Houston defense until he got to the Texans 38-yard line where the safety went low to tackle him. Hilton jumped over him but landed on his knees. Everyone assumed he was down, but he had not been touched by a Houston defender so he got up and, escorted by tight end Jack Doyle, ran for the end zone. To the shock of the Texan fans, the referee signaled a touchdown. A review of the play confirmed this and the score was now 17 to 7. Vinatieri added another field goal. Texan quarterback Tom Savage had a miserable game and for the most part couldn’t find connections with his receivers. However, with seven minutes to go he led the Texans on a scoring drive that made the score 20 to 14. The Texans recovered an onside kick and were driving again. With 6 seconds left and on the 11 yard line the Texans missed on an end zone pass and ran out of time. The Colts won.
Don’t look for this game to be a season turning point. Next up are the Steelers at home. Pittsburgh always gives the Colts a seriously hard time. Big Ben and his offense are loaded and the defense is eating opponent offenses up. I am of the opinion that the Steelers will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. The Colts will take an L on this one. It’s their bye week after that. Maybe they can iron things out and finish the season with a few more wins….and maybe I will win the Pulitzer Prize, Ha ha!
Astros Are the Champs
For those of you who were on another planet in October, the Houston Astros won the World Series last week and are now the 2017 Major League Baseball Champions. It’s not like the city of Houston didn’t need some uplifting news after suffering the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. 2017 was an interesting year for professional baseball. Certainly the Astros were not the top choice of baseball prognosticators to finish as champions, bur karma was with the team after enduring the hardest summer possible. So congratulations to the Astros and the city of Houston on a well deserved win! Our prayers for a complete recovery are still with you.
snicewanger@yahoo.com