Arian Foster helps Houston Texans defeat Colts
The Indianapolis Colts have owned the Houston Texans in the past seasons. In fact, this can’t even be considered a rivalry, after the Colts had a 15-1 record against the Texans prior to their opening game of the year. But the Texans were not intimidated, and for some reason were very confident as they welcomed the Colts to Reliant Stadium on Sunday.
Indianapolis had Peyton Manning, but Houston had running back Arian Foster to level the playing field, and it was enough to give the Texans 34-24 victory over their nemesis. The Texans were talking about this game since the NFL schedule was released in April, and approached Sunday’s game as if it were a post-season contest. That’s how important it was for Houston to get over that hump and start the season with a win in their back pocket.
The Texans jumped to an early 6-0 lead in the first quarter after kicker Neil Rackers connected on two field goals. Houston followed the game plan to perfection and decided to run the ball early and often with Foster who had a monster outing. Giving the Colts’ tremendous ability to stop the run, Foster’s sensational opening-day, in which he rushed for a team-record 231 yards and scored three touchdowns against last season’s defending AFC champions, was even more remarkable.
Houston led 13-10 at halftime and turned the offence over to Foster, which explains quarterback Matt Shuab’s low numbers. Shuab finished Sunday’s game completing nine of 17 passes for 107 yards including one touchdown and one interception.
The Texans quarterback wasn’t asked to do much and he didn’t need to. All he had to do was hand the ball off to Foster and enjoy the show. We had to have patience,” Foster said. “It didn’t feel like I was going to be able to get going early, but you keep pounding and pounding, and they start getting a little tired and we start getting a little tired. It’s a test of wills.”
Foster seemed impossible to stop and finished with mind-blowing average seven yards per carry. He was the offensive focal point and even when the Colts knew that he was going to run with the ball, they still were unable to stop him.
The victory ended a six-game losing streak to the Colts, whose comeback efforts were futile. Manning and company had dug themselves quite a hole and had to throw the ball down the field to score points rapidly. Manning finished the day completing 40 of 57 passes for 433 yards and three touchdowns. But even those numbers were not enough to defeat the Texans, an eight-year-old franchise hungry for its first playoff berth.
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