Colts Defeat Texans 35-20 to Remain Undefeated

The Colts come into thei r matchup against the Texans as one of the two undefeated teams in the league at 10-0. The Texans enter this game as losers of their last two games after starting the season at 5-3. The Colts have won the last five meetings between the two teams and have are winners of their last 19 regular season games. A win for Colts would help them remain unbeaten on the season and would enable them to the be the first team to qualify for the post-season while a win for the Texans would help their playoffs hopes alive in the AFC.

The Colts came into this game as the number one scoring defense in the league only allowing a stingy 16 points per contest. However, it appeared that the Colts unbeaten streak would come to an end early as the Texans would score 14 points in the opening quarter and would lead 20-7 going into the second half. However, after their offense played a near perfect first half without any turnovers, and the defense keeping Manning and the Colts in check for the most part, the second half would be a completely different story for the Texans. The Colts would provide the only score between the two teams in the third quarter as Peyton Manning would connect with Reggie Wayne for a four yard touchdown pass to pull the Colts within six points at 20-14. The wheels would continue to fall off for the Texans as the Colts would take the lead 21-20 as Manning would hook up with Dwight Clark for a nine yard touchdown pass with just less than ten minutes remaining in the game.

If things weren't bad enough, on the Texans' next possession, quarterback Matt Schaub would be intercepted by Clint Session who would return the pass for a touchdown to give the Colts a 28-20 lead. The Texans would again turn the ball over on their next possession as Matt Schaub would fumble the ball (all three in the second half) and the Colts would put the game out of reach on a twenty-three yard touchdown run to give the Colts a 35-20 lead. The Texans would finally score in the second half but it would come with only 18 seconds remaining and the Colts would recover the onside kick for the win and continue their undefeated streak and improve to 11-0. The win gave the Colts their 20^th consecutive regular season and help them set a record with winning 11 games for the seventh straight year. The loss for the Texans is their third straight and will more than likely eliminate them from post-season consideration.

Sources:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/recap?gameId=20091129034

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2009112903/2009/REG12/colts@texans/discuss#tab:recap