Indianapolis Colts lose to Houston Texans: 5 takeaways from Week 1

Cody Manning

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Indianapolis Colts lose to Houston Texans: 5 takeaways from Week 1 image

The Indianapolis Colts' drought continues after they fell short to the Houston Texans in a 29-27 game to lose their 11th-straight season opener.

The offense had explosive moments throughout the contest, which helped the team have a shot to win it in the fourth quarter. But the surprise was the Colts' run defense not holding up to their standard. 

Gus Bradley’s unit struggled to contain Joe Mixon throughout the matchup and it was the Houston ground game that got the final first down to seal the Week 1 victory for the Texans.

The positive for Indianapolis is that there is plenty of season left and this team fought hard behind Anthony Richardson to have a chance to win it in the fourth quarter. 

Here are five takeaways from Colts loss to the Texans:

Colts vs. Texans recap: Takeaways from Week 1

1Anthony Richardson wasn’t perfect but he had great moments

After the lackluster final preseason game from Richardson, there was some wonder how he and the passing attack would look in Week 1. There were moments of miscommunication and timing between him and his receivers. Those led to stalled drives, including a turnover on downs on the opening drive of the game. 

The great plays came when Richardson went for the deep ball. Outside a pair of missed opportunities with Adonai Mitchell, we got a glimpse of how explosive the passing attack can be this season with AR in the lineup. 

Richardson got his day kicked off on the offense’s second drive of the game. After slipping, he was able to regain his balance and deliver a flat-footed throw with pressure in his face to hit Alec Pierce for a 60-yard touchdown.

This pass traveled 65.3 yards in the air, the third-longest completion in the Next Gen Stats Era. 

It was in the fourth quarter when Richardson’s arm almost climbed his team to win this contest. Down 22-13, he threw a heater to Ashton Dulin for a 54-yard touchdown to make it a 22-20 game. 

The Texans would respond to that score with a touchdown to make it a 29-20 game. It felt like it was about to be wrapped up for Houston but on a third-and-15, Richardson went deep to Pierce for the second time for a 57-yard reception. 

Indianapolis almost wasted the big play away after failing to punch it in for a touchdown but it was Richardson who powered his way to the endzone on a fourth-and-goal on the three-yard line.

Richardson finished 9-of-19 passing for 212 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. His turnover wasn’t on him, though. Kylen Granson slipped as Richardson released the ball, which led to the pick for the Texans. Richardson also ran the ball six times for 56 yards and a touchdown. 

There are some things that Richardson will need to continue to work on but this game gave a good look into how explosive the passing attack can be this season when he is on point. 

Run defense severely underwhelmed

The run defense was supposed to be a strength for the Indy defense this season but that was far from the case against the Texans. The front seven struggled to contain Mixon throughout the contest. The new addition to the Houston offense ran the ball 30 times for 159 yards and a touchdown. It was most allowed to a single back since Derrick Henry in 2020 and the second most allowed since Jonas Gray in 2014. 

It was a rare sight to see the Colts get any contact in the backfield on Mixon, which showed in his 5.3 YPC. As well as Julian Blackmon and Nick Cross combined for 27 tackles, 32.1% of the defense's total tackles. The pair of safeties had to make too many plays in run support throughout the afternoon. 

The Texans finished with 213 rushing yards, which was the most allowed for Indianapolis since they played the New York Giants in the 2022 season. There needs to be major improvement for the Indy run defense over the next week with the Green Bay Packers likely heavily leaning into Josh Jacobs with Jordan Love out of the lineup in Week 2. 

Quiet day for Indy's rushing attack 

One of the exciting things for this Colts offense entering the season was what Richardson and Jonathan Taylor can do for the rushing attack. Richardson certainly did his part as the team’s leading rusher but outside of Taylor's five-yard touchdown run following a blocked punt, the Texans kept the star back from creating explosive plays. 

There were tight rushing lanes for Taylor in this contest. The offensive line didn’t give him much room to work with and the presence of Richardson didn’t keep Houston from keying on Taylor. He averaged 3.0 YPC and was held below 50 rushing yards on 16 attempts. 

This area should improve as defenses have to respect the deep passes from Richardson but they need more out of this area of their offense to sustain drives and control the clock. 

Pass rush was active

The Indy defensive front disappointed in their rush defense but they were active in getting after C.J. Stroud. They were getting consistent pressure on the Houston quarterback. The Colts finished with four sacks and 10 quarterback hits. 

The effort was led by DeForest Buckner. The veteran finished with six tackles (five solo), a tackle for loss, 1.5 sacks, and two quarterback hits.

Kwity Paye, Tyquan Lewis, and Dayo Odeyingbo were responsible for the rest of the 3.5 sacks. This trio alongside Grover Stewart, E.J. Speed, and Zaire Franklin combined for the other eight quarterback hits. 

It was a good start for the pass rush in Week 1 and they will have to continue to improve as the secondary will continue to have growing pains as they did in this contest. 

Alec Pierce unlocks a deep passing attack

There have been flashes of what Alec Pierce can provide as an option with the deep ball in the first two seasons of his career. Sunday afternoon was a reminder of what he and Richardson can do this season. 

As I mentioned, it was on the second drive of the game when Pierce slipped past the Houston secondary for his longest catch of the game on the 60-yard touchdown. He only saw two more targets after that score but he made the most out of his final one of the game. 

To keep a drive alive, he went up for a 50/50 ball to come down with the catch on a 57-yard gain on third-and-15.

Pierce finished with three receptions for a career-high 125 yards and a touchdown. The third-year receiver got his season off to a great start. Now it’s on him and Richardson to continue to build on this performance to keep an explosive element to the passing attack. 

Cody Manning

Cody Manning Photo

Cody Manning is a graduate of the University of Tampa’s Sport Management program. He spent time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Guest and Member Relations Game Day staff where he was a Team Leader and earned Difference Maker of the Year in 2017. During his time with the Bucs, he helped start Blitzalytics, a scouting and analytics media company. After that came to an end, he joined USA Today’s Colts Wire as a contributor in 2021. Outside of football, he is an avid WWE and Batman fan. You can find him on Twitter/X @CodyTalksNFL.