FULL SCORE
Bobby Kownack’s offer:
- The Texans wrap it up at halftime. Houston had a chance to win the AFC South, needed a win and the Titans upset of the Jaguars to steal the division. It didn’t take much watching the scoreboard to realize it wasn’t in the cards. Jacksonville was already ahead at halftime, 31-7. With that in mind, CJ Stroud and most of the team’s stars took their seats on the bench for the final two frames. Stroud was sharp in his shorter action. He went 14 of 23 for 169 yards and a well-placed touchdown Jayden Higginsand he also ran into another. While the defense was exposed more often than it probably would have liked, it still showed some of its signature edge. Danielle Hunter posted a sack to tie his season high with 15, the second-highest of his career, and Indianapolis had managed just 19 rushing yards at halftime. The team’s backups eventually came through to extend Houton’s hitting streak to seven, but with only one to play for, the most important thing is that the Texans walked away unscathed by a major injury.
- Leonard looks like he belongs. On his first throw in his first career start — against the NFL’s No. 1 defense — Riley Leonard unleashed a 66-yard blast Alec Pierce for a touchdown on a blown coverage. It wasn’t all perfect from there, but the sixth-round pick absolutely proved himself as an NFL-caliber quarterback. He put on a cannon display, throwing accurately from several different arm angles and mostly danced well out of danger. Made all the more impressive by his complete lack of a running game, Leonard became the first quarterback in Indianapolis history to have two-plus passing TDs and one-plus rushing TDs in his first career start. By the end of the game, the Colts had put up the most points and the most net yards (278) of any team this season at Texas. The caveat is that Houston finally rested its starters, but Leonard was making an impact long before that. Whether the Colts’ fortunes would have been different had they not passed on Leonard is trivial to debate Philip Rivers. The 44-year-old wasn’t the problem in his three losses, and Leonard wasn’t winning either. But it seems like the rookie would have offered the Colts more upside compared to a steady vet. For all his good, Leonard panicked himself in a bad fumble and did the same in a pick, both deep in his own territory, and another safe interception was dropped. Nevertheless, it was a promising debut against a great opponent.
- Pierce has an eventful day. No one benefited more from a quarterback trade than Alec Pierce. With the hard-throwing Leonard under center, Pierce’s deep ball specialty was once again unlocked. He broke free often against a sloppy Texas secondary, collecting the opening kickoff for a 66-yard score, drawing a 30-yard penalty, returning an 8-yarder that required some finesse and setting up the Colts’ third touchdown on a 53-yard scamper down to the 1. Pierce finished with 132 yards for a total of 132 yards. 47 receptions for 1,003 yards and six touchdowns. Along with scoring his first career 1,000-yard season, he became the first player to score six-plus receiving TDs and average 20-plus yards per reception in consecutive seasons since James Lofton in 1983-84, according to NFL Research. However, his day also ended unexpectedly early. After missing a third touchdown with 1:52 left in the third quarter, Pierce hit a referee while fighting for a flag to earn one against himself. He was ejected, cut his season short by 16 minutes and converted. It was a bad end to a great day, but the pending free agent has the potential to get paid handsomely in a few months.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Colts-Texans (via NFL Pro): Houston depleted Jonathan Taylor on six of his 14 carries (42.9% percentage) and held him to 26 rushing yards at 1.9 yards per carry, both his lowest totals of the season.
NFL Research: Danielle Hunter became one of six players since 1982 to have four career seasons with more than 14 hits. Hunter’s four seasons tie him with Kevin Greene, Jared Allen, JJ Watt and TJ Watt, and he trails only Reggie White’s five such seasons.