Colts RB Sounds Off on Tie vs. Texans: ‘WTF Happened’

The Indianapolis Colts broke their 8-year losing streak in season openers, but they also didn’t win.

Despite a valiant effort to erase a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit, the Colts settled for a 20-20 tie against the Houston Texans in Week 1. Indianapolis scored on 3 of its final 5 possessions in the game, but with the score tied, the Colts punted near the end of regulation and then missed a field goal on their only possession of overtime.

Obviously, the tie left both teams with mixed emotions on opening day. Those mixed emotions were perhaps summed up best by Colts running back Nyheim Hines.

“I don’t know how to feel. I feel incomplete,” Hines said to the media following the game. “I feel like I got broken up with, then we got back together. It’s a cycle of that. You ever been in a toxic relationship? That’s what I feel like. A cycle of that.

“WTF happened? That’s what I’ll say.”

The Athletic’s Zak Keefer reported it was the Colts’ first tie in 40 years, which actually means it’s the franchise’s first tie since moving to Indianapolis. The Baltimore Colts tied the Green Bay Packers during December of the 1982 season. Ironically, the score of that game was also 20-20.

Colts Extend Week 1 Winless Streak

While Indianapolis avoided a ninth straight defeat in Week 1, the Colts managed a tie against a team that only had 4 victories a season ago. From that perspective, Indianapolis’ performance feels a little like a loss.

“We came here to be 1-0. This is our mantra,” Reich said after the game. “It’s what we do. We did not accomplish that today.”

For a large portion of the game, it appeared as though the final score would be a blowout loss for Indianapolis. At the end of the third quarter, the Texans led the Colts 20-3.

But behind running back Jonathan Taylor and a defensive takeaway, Indianapolis tied the game with three straight scoring possessions.

Taylor accumulated 68 yards from scrimmage on those three drives. Hines had 1 catch for 9 yards on those possessions. Hines finished with only 4 rushing yards on 3 carries, but he was second for the Colts with 50 receiving yards.

Hines’ biggest play of the day was a 15-yard reception which moved the Colts to the Houston 35-yard line with under 6 minutes remaining in overtime. Indianapolis picked up another 16 yards before attempting a 42-yard field goal to win.

But kicker Rodrigo Blankenship missed the attempt to the right.

Despite the comeback effort, other Colts players shared Hines’ mixed emotions with the tie.

Texans’ Lovie Smith Plays for the Tie

After Blankenship’s missed field goal, the Texans had another chance to break the tie. They drove just beyond midfield, but after losing two yards on third-and-1, Houston coach Lovie Smith elected to punt on fourth-and-3 at the Colts 49-yard line and 24 seconds remaining.

With Hines calling for a fair catch on the punt at the Indianapolis 6-yard line, Smith’s decision to punt all but clinched the tie for both sides.

Smith may have chosen to punt based on the fact his offense lost two yards on third down, but Smith also explained to the media after the game that he wasn’t feeling 100% confident in his defense at that point in overtime either.

“I felt like a tie was better than a loss,” Smith said. “It not like we were playing our best defense at the time. We were drained. We were gassed.”

The Colts and Texans will meet again in the final regular season matchup during Week 18. Next week, the Colts will visit the Jacksonville Jaguars.