What is the story about?
The Indianapolis Colts (1-2) picked up their first win of the 2026 regular season and against their AFC South divisional rival, the also still winless Houston Texans (0-3), no less.
The Colts led nearly the entire way until with 4:45 left in regulation, Texans edge Will Anderson Jr. strip-sacked Colts starting quarterback Daniel Jones again, which led to the Texans taking the lead, 17-16, on an ensuing scoring drive that was capped off by Houston running back Woody Marks’ 1-yard touchdown run.
To their
credit, the Colts didn’t quit though. Jones made a big 20-yard completion to veteran wideout Laquon Treadwell, and after consecutive Jonathan Taylor runs, found Keenan Allen for a 6-yard reception that set up kicker Spencer Shrader for the game-winning 53-yard field goal with a little over 15 seconds left to spare.
Without further ado, here are our individual performances to highlight, both good and bad:
HORSEPLAY
- Colts Offensive Line: Make no mistake about it, the Texans are a formidable defense foe. The Colts offensive line had their hands full with their front seven featuring the star pass rushing edge pairing of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter. Jones was pressured on 46.3% of his dropbacks, which was the 3rd most in the NFL during Week 3 t0-date.In particular, starting right tackle Jalen Travis, despite an initial solid start to the 2026 campaign, clearly struggled containing Anderson Jr. in pass blocking. Specifically, Travis surrendered 3.0 sacks, 11 QB pressures, 7 hurries, and 1 QB hit in pass protection for what was clearly a long afternoon for the Colts’ first-year full-time starter at right tackle. Rather than single out Travis individually here though, I was a bit disappointed that the Colts also couldn’t get the run game going either. Colts star running back Jonathan Taylor, was largely bottled up all afternoon, averaging just 3.0 yards per carry on 23 carries, with his lone big run being called back because of a Laquon Treadwell hold. The Texans are really good up front, but even with the mismatch in pass blocking, and conceding that the Texans are elite in getting after the quarterback off the edges, I expected the Colts to be a bit better in the offensive trenches, particularly in run blocking collectively as a unit.
- QB Daniel Jones: I’ll hedge a bit here, as see below. However, Jones threw a duck under duress that that Texans safety Reed Blankenship easily intercepted early in the 3rd quarter, and had 3 fumbles on the afternoon, two of which were caused by Anderson Jr. strip-sacks (see above) and lost to Houston. It’s hard to simulate being physically hit in the moment, but ball security has been a consistent issue for Jones, even dating back to his days as a franchise quarterback hopeful with the New York Giants. He has to anticipate or better feel that incoming pocket pressure and either throw the ball away or go down safely and protect the football (like Peyton Maning infamously used to do). He can’t put the ball on the deck that many times, let alone commit three turnovers entirely. It’s typically hard to win that way.
HORSEPOWER
- QB Daniel Jones (Contd.): To his credit, when under constant pressure (which was 46.3% of his dropbacks), Jones completed 9 of 15 pass attempts for 115 total passing yards, a passing touchdown, and an interception, meaning he largely performed well when actually pressured (aside from the lone ill-advised thrown duck). Opposing defenses have been bringing the heat against him since really around midseason of last season and forced the Colts to adjust. It was really a mixed bag for Jones on the afternoon collectively, but after another critical strip-sack from Anderson, he did successfully navigate the Colts into scoring position for Shrader’s game-winning field goal with seconds left after two big completions to his wideouts.
- Colts Wide Receivers: With Alec Pierce out, Downs had a big afternoon for the Colts, catching 5 receptions for 77 total receiving yards with a career high 172 air yards. His teammate, veteran wideout Keenan Allen also stepped up, and showed that he wasn’t two more games from retirement—as it was starting to look the Colts debuting 34-yard wideout had lost another step through his first two starts in Indianapolis. Rather, Allen had 6 receptions for 63 total receiving yards and Indy’s lone TD reception.
- Colts Defensive Tackles : Colts Pro Bowl veteran defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was a menace in this one, with 7 tackles, 1.5 sacks, a tackle for loss, and 2 QB hits. His defensive tackle counterpart, Ade Adebawore, gave the Texans fits as a sub-package speed pass rushing defensive tackle, finishing with 1.5 sacks, a QB hit, and a QB hurry. That DT duo appears to pretty fearsome pass rushing so far this season.
- CB Justin Walley: Having clearly endured a lot of growing pains to begin his pro career, and picked on in coverage, Walley had his best game to-date with a number of key pass breakups. He was targeted 6 times against the Texans on Sunday, allowing 4 receptions for just 30 total receiving yards and 2 pass breakups—including a big one in the end zone near midway through the 4th quarter.
- PK Spencer Shrader: Despite battling a groin injury suffered in pregame warmups, the Colts placekicker was “money” on Sunday afternoon, going a pristine 4 for 4 with makes from 39 yards, 58 yards, 37 yards, and the game-winning 53 yard field goal kick with 16 seconds left in regulation. Shrader not only won the game for the Colts, gutting it out through injury, but arguably saved their season, by avoiding an incredibly challenging 0-3 start that would’ve been difficult to overcome to keep Indy’s AFC playoff hopes alive.
