 Colts and Texans face off during the2007 season. | |
| Location | Indianapolis,Houston |
|---|---|
| First meeting | September 22, 2002 Colts 23,Texans 3[1] |
| Latest meeting | October 27, 2024 Texans 23, Colts 20[1] |
| Next meeting | November 30, 2025 |
| Stadiums | Colts:Lucas Oil Stadium Texans:NRG Stadium |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 47[1] |
| All-time series | Colts: 33–13–1[1] |
| Regular season series | Colts: 32–13–1[1] |
| Postseason results | Colts: 1–0[1] |
| Largest victory | Colts: 49–14(2004) Texans: 34–7(2011)[1] |
| Most points scored | Colts: 49(2004) Texans: 37(2018)[1] |
| Longest win streak | Colts: 9 (2002–2006) Texans: 3 (2015–2016, 2023–present)[1] |
| Current win streak | Texans: 3 (2023–present)[1] |
| Post-season history[1] | |
| |
TheColts–Texans rivalry is aNational Football League (NFL)rivalry between theIndianapolis Colts andHouston Texans.
While being one of the newest rivalries in the NFL due to the Texans' formation in 2002 and the Colts' reallocation to theAFC South division that year, this rivalry has increased in intensity over the late 2010s despite being lopsided in favor of Indianapolis during the 2000s.[2][3][4][5]
Though Colts fans generally view the Texans simply as a divisional opponent, many Texans fans see the Colts as their top rival due to their long period of dominance in the series.[6] Indianapolis won the first nine games in the series as they were a perennial Super Bowl contender under quarterbackPeyton Manning while the Texans struggled in their first years in the NFL, finally attaining their first winning season in 2009 and becoming a playoff contender through much of the 2010s. Since then, the Colts and Texans have often squared off for the top spot in their division.[7]
The Colts lead the overall series, 33–13–1. The two teams have met once in theplayoffs, with the Colts holding a 1–0 record.[1]
Houston's first NFL Team was theHouston Oilers, who had moved toMemphis, Tennessee and laterNashville, Tennessee to become theTennessee Titans.Bob McNair then spearheaded an effort to get the NFL to create an expansion team in Houston to replace the Oilers and even out the league's teams at 32. In 1999, the NFL officially awarded the 32nd franchise to McNair. The Texans began playing in 2002.[8]
The formation of the Texans necessitated the reorganization of the league's divisions. TheAFC South was created with the Texans joining as an expansion team, the Titans andJacksonville Jaguars joining from the formerAFC Central, and the Colts joining from theAFC East. The Titans and Jaguars were alreadyrivals coming into the division, but the Colts and Texans would have to develop new divisional rivalries, as Indianapolis would leave behind its old rivalries from the AFC East, including adeveloping rivalry with theNew England Patriots.
Efforts for Houston to develop any heated rivalries in the 2000s were for naught, as the Texans were one of the NFL's bottom tier teams for much of their first nine years of playing. Indianapolis, on the other hand, was one of the NFL's powerhouses, featuring a stellar offense with quarterbackPeyton Manning and receiversMarvin Harrison andReggie Wayne. The Colts won the division 7 out of 9 years during this period and managed to make the playoffs each time.
The Colts and Texans first met on September 22, 2002, atReliant Stadium in Houston, with Manning passing for 272 yards and two touchdowns while Texans rookie quarterbackDavid Carr struggled, only amassing 99 yards, an interception, and a 47.3 passer rating as the Colts routed the Texans 23–3.[9] The Colts wound up winning each of the first nine meetings between the teams, including a 49–14 victory at theRCA Dome in 2004,[10] before Houston finally beat Indianapolis in week 16 of the 2006 season. Peyton Manning wound up having a 16–2 record against the Texans while with the Colts before being released and signing with theDenver Broncos after sitting out the 2011 season due to injury.[11]
The Texans routed the Manning-less Colts 34–7 in Houston in during opening day of the 2011 season, but were upset during the rematch in Indianapolis after Colts backup quarterbackDan Orlovsky completed a last-minute pass to Reggie Wayne for a touchdown, allowing Indianapolis to win 19–16.[7] By the second game, both starting quarterbacks had been placed on injured reserve for the teams; in addition to Manning missing the whole season, Texans starterMatt Schaub had been sidelined with aLisfranc injury, forcing rookieT. J. Yates to play in his stead.[12] Nonetheless, the Colts suffered a 2–14 season without Manning, while the Texans still made the playoffs despite Schaub missing the last six games of the season, winning the AFC South for their first division title and playoff berth in franchise history.
The Colts then obtained the first overall pick in the2012 NFL draft, which they then used to selectStanford quarterback and Houston nativeAndrew Luck to fill in the void left by Manning.[13] The Texans dominated the Colts during Luck's first game in the rivalry, clinching a second consecutive divisional title with the 29–17 win in week 15 of 2012. However, this would be Indianapolis' last divisional loss until 2015, as the Colts would win the next six in a row against Houston. Houston broke the streak with a 16–10 win atLucas Oil Stadium on October 8, 2015, which was the first time the Texans beat the Colts on the road, ironically with longtime Texans receiverAndre Johnson on the Colts.[14][15][7] The following year, quarterbackBrock Osweiler led the Texans to their first ever season sweep of the Colts in his only season with Houston.[16]
Despite the growing animosity between the two teams, many players and executives from the Colts organization helped the Texans with donations and fundraising in the aftermath ofHurricane Harvey at the start of the 2017 season.[6] After both teams struggled in 2017, they met in the playoffs for the first time the following season. Houston had won the division thanks to strong play from quarterbackDeshaun Watson and the defense, while Indianapolis had overcome a 1–5 start, including a 37–34 overtime loss to the Texans in which new head coachFrank Reich called a failed fourth-down conversion that ultimately led to Houston's game-winning field goal,[17] to clinch a wild-card berth at 10–6. The Colts won the game thanks to effective play from Luck, running backMarlon Mack, and their defense, keeping Houston scoreless until the fourth quarter with a 21–7 win.[18] Prior to the playoff game, there had been some banter between Colts receiverT. Y. Hilton and several members of the Texans defensive secondary, as Hilton was called a "clown" after making disparaging comments about the Texans.[19][20][7]
In 2019, the Texans and Colts were both in position to contend for the AFC South title, despite Indianapolis losing Andrew Luck to a sudden retirement prior to the season.[21][22] The Colts won the first meeting 30–23 thanks to four touchdown passes from new quarterbackJacoby Brissett,[23] but the Texans won 20–17 in week 12 thanks to two touchdown passes from Watson to receiverDeAndre Hopkins.[24]
After a disappointing 2020 season for Houston, which included two close losses to the Colts and Hopkins being traded prior to the season, the Texans released star defensive endJ. J. Watt per his request, leading to him joining Hopkins with theArizona Cardinals,[25] and Watson requested a trade before being accused by several women of sexual assault, leading to his deactivation throughout the 2021 season and eventual trade to theCleveland Browns.[26][27] While the Texans struggled again in 2021, the Colts, however, maintained a level of success playing with veteran quarterbacksPhilip Rivers andCarson Wentz in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
The two teams met in week 1 of the 2022 season, withMatt Ryan now under center for Indianapolis andDavis Mills entering his second year as the Texans' starting quarterback. Houston jumped to a 20–3 lead in the third quarter, but Ryan led Indianapolis back to tie the game by the end of regulation. The game would end in a 20–20 tie as Colts kickerRodrigo Blankenship missed the potential game-winning field goal, leading to his release after the game.[28] This was the first tie in the series and the first tie in Texans history.[29] The next meeting that year saw the Texans pull off a last minute rally to beat the Colts in an otherwise awful season of three wins.[30]
The two teams each entered a new era in quarterbacks and coaches in 2023, with the Texans draftingC. J. Stroud[31] and the Colts draftingAnthony Richardson.[32] Indianapolis won the first game in Week 2 despite losing Richardson to injury, but the Texans won the winner-take-all rematch for both teams,[33][34][35] in Week 18 by a final score of 23–19, eliminating Indianapolis to clinch their first playoff appearance in four years.[36][37][38] They won theAFC South the next day after theJacksonville Jaguars lost to theirrival, theTennessee Titans.[39][40]
| Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans Season-by-Season Results[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2000s (Colts, 15–1)
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2010s (Colts, 13–8)
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2020s (Colts, 5–4–1)
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Summary of Results
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{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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| Franchise | |
| Stadiums | |
| Culture | |
| Lore | |
| Rivalries | |
| Division championships (16) | |
| Conference championships (7) | |
| League championships (5) | |
| Retired numbers | |
| Media | |
| Current league affiliations |
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