Colts kicker Spender Shrader, who injured his groin in pregame warmups, ended up playing the part of hero. He kicked field goals of 39, 58, 37 and 53 in the Colts’ 19-17 victory over the Texans.
His final field goal came with 16 seconds left.
The Colts are now 1-2, while the Texans fell to 0-3 for the second consecutive season. Houston rallied to make the playoffs last season, but the odds are against them to do it again.
The Colts, who led 13-7 at halftime and 16-7 midway through the fourth quarter, had the lead until 1:48 remained. C.J. Stroud directed a seven-play, 54-yard drive with Woody Marks scoring on a 1-yard run.
The Texans, though, botched the kickoff, with Ka’imi Fairbairn kicking it into the end zone. That allowed the Colts to start their game-winning drive at their own 35. DeMeco Ryans then botched the clock management, failing to use his first timeout after Jonathan Taylor’s run left more than a minute on the clock.
Ryans finally called the timeout with 29 seconds remaining. It left too little time for the Texans to get into field goal range, and Stroud’s Hail Mary throw on the final play was both short and out of bounds.
The Colts outgained the Texans 300 to 223 yards, with Daniel Jones going 24-of-36 for 235 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also lost two fumbles, though the Texans turned it over on downs after the first one.
Jonathan Taylor had 23 carries for 68 yards, and Josh Downs caught five passes for 77 yards.
Adetomiwa Adebawore and DeForest Buckner each had 1 1/2 sacks of Stroud.
Stroud was 16-of-27 for 167 yards and a touchdown. David Montgomery had 11 carries for 33 yards, and Xavier Hutchinson caught three passes for 51 yards.
Texans defensive end Will Anderson had 2.5 sacks of Jones.