It is victory Monday for the Houston Texans as they defeated the Indianapolis Colts in overtime on Sunday.
Week 4 proved to a positive in the win column on Sunday with the Houston Texans winning for the first time of the season, defeating the Indianapolis Colts 37-34 in overtime.
The win means it is now victory Monday for the Texans, and more importantly the team fended off falling to four straight losses. The win showed signs that good things are possible, while other aspects of their game need some work.
Listed are headlines for Monday about the victorious Texans:
• Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com quoted Jadeveon Clowney following the game as he stated he knew it was going to be a good day for him when he woke up on Sunday morning:
"“I woke up this morning, I felt pretty good. I told the guys, that I ain’t felt this good since we opened up. … So I was expecting to come out here and play well for my teammates and my team today.”"
Having a good day might be an understatement for Clowney who finished with four tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. This is the Clowney many have wanted to see on a consistent basis since he was drafted. After missing last week, Clowney looked the best he has all season, and hopefully he’s healthy enough to keep up this level of play.
• Drew Dougherty of HoustonTexans.com wrote about how the Texans were better in the red zone on Sunday, but work is still needed. Dougherty reported following the game:
"“Five times the Texans made it inside the Indianapolis 20-yard line. On the first three, which came in regulation, they scored touchdowns. The final two were in overtime, and they resulted in Ka’imi Fairbairn field goals.”"
This is a start for the Texans after not being so good at red zone situations through the first three games of the season. The Texans left Sunday’s game with those three touchdowns and that was great. It would have been nice off the Texans would have scored a touchdown in one of the two overtime trips, but they were still able to get the job done, it took just a little longer to do.
Houston looked like a better team offensively Sunday than they did at any point of this season, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done out of the red zone as too. Deshaun Watson was sacked seven times on Sunday and has been sacked a total of 17 times in the first four games of the season which isn’t good.
• Greg Doyel of IndyStar.com gave his opinion on the fourth down call in overtime by the Colts, which eventually led to the Texans kicking the game-winning field goal in overtime. Doyel wrote:
"“The sequence of events was stupid. The Indianapolis Colts lost 37-34 to the Houston Texans on Sunday because what they tried to do in the final seconds of overtime, and the way they tried to do it, was stupid.”"
Doyel didn’t disagree with the Colts being aggressive, but just the timing and field position of how it all played out. I believe ties are boring and have no place in the NFL, but even while watching this sequence of events it was tough to fathom how the Colts went for the first down. At least the Colts know their head coach Frank Reich is aggressive and has confidence in them from here on out.
• John McClain of the Houston Chronicle gave a report card of the Texans and how they played on Sunday, including giving Watson a high grade:
"“Deshaun Watson was sacked seven times, but he threw for 375 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown.”"
Watson battled tough on Sunday and his offensive line did him no favors. Having nearly 400 yards passing and the lat throw he made to DeAndre Hopkins to set up the game-winning field goal very late in overtime was very good to see from the second-year quarterback who was playing in just his 11th career NFL game. McClain gave Watson’s play an A- overall in Week 4.
• Tweet of the Day
The game winner.#HOUvsIND pic.twitter.com/CTH7T3RWuw
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) September 30, 2018
Not many words are needed … the Texans finally gained their first win of the season and are no longer winless. This kick finalized victory Monday for the Texans and now it is time to face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football in Week 5.