Zigeunerzelt » HOUSTON (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts have won all season

thanks in large part to big games from quarterback Andrew Luck.In a 21-7 wild-card game win over the Houston Texans on Saturday they showed that they’re pretty good at running the ball T.J. Green Color Rush Jersey , too.Luck threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns and Marlon Mack had a career-high 148 yards rushing and a touchdown on a day the Colts finished with 200 yards rushing.“There were some really effective runs early in the game,” Luck said. “And then the way we finished the game, I’m proud of the guys up front. It’s not easy to run the ball on that defense. It’s a really good defense with a lot of good players, but we made the most of it and I’m proud of all the guys.”The Colts advance to face the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round next weekend.Luck threw for 191 yards and two scores in the first half to help the Colts build a 21-0 lead. His first one came on the game’s first drive when he found Eric Ebron on a 6-yard TD pass. That play was set up by a 38-yard catch by T.Y. Hilton, who had 63 yards receiving on that drive.Hilton didn’t have any catches on the next drive, but the Colts still drove down the field easily and made it 14-0 on a 2-yard run by Mack later in the first.Mack became the first player to rush for more than 100 yards against the Texans this season after the most yards they’d allowed to one player came when Saquon Barkley gained 82 yards on the ground on Sept. 23.“We came into this game saying we needed to dominate up front,” Indianapolis coach Frank Reich said. “We needed to run the football and stop the run. To roll off 200 yards on that defense is unbelievable.”Reich said the Colts’ success in the run game helped them contain Houston’s pass rushing duo of J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney.“We had multiple plans of attack in order to slow them down to chip and thump them every time we could,” Reich said. “Run the ball to slow them down, we talked a lot about that this week. Those are two phenomenal players, and our guys did a great job.”Some things to know about the Colts’ win over the Texans:TURNAROUND TALKReich is wowed by how much his team has grown since Oct. 14, when a loss to the New York Jets dropped the Colts to 1-5.“I really can’t believe it,” he said. “That’s what happens when you believe in each other, and you work hard every day and you just get a little bit better. One percent better every day, that’s what we talk about … as the season goes on, that’s a long climb. If you can keep getting better throughout the season with the players that we have, I believe we’re right where we should be.”Indianapolis is the third team in league history to make the postseason after a 1-5 start, and the Colts win on Saturday was their fifth straight and 10th in the last 11 games.HOPKINS’ HEALTHHouston’s passing game was hampered by a shoulder injury to star receiver DeAndre Hopkins in the first half on Saturday. Hopkins was second in the NFL with a career-high 1,572 yards receiving in the regular season, but was limited to five catches for 37 yards in a game in which he said that he sustained a Grade 3 AC strain of his right shoulder.Hopkins acknowledged it being difficult to play through his injury and was in so much pain after the game that he winced repeatedly during the simple task of trying to zip his jacket.But Hopkins, who started each game this season despite dealing with minor injuries, said he never thought about sitting out after the injury.“Nah, I would have had to have a broken leg or something,” he said.While disappointed in Saturday’s loss, Hopkins was impressed with Houston’s turnaround to reach the postseason after starting 0-3.“I’m proud of this team for even being where we are in this position,” he said. “We’ve got a real good team. We’ve got a lot of tough guys in here. We’ll be back next year.”OH BABYSaturday’s win capped an exciting — and hectic — week for Ebron after he and his wife Gabriella welcomed their second son, Aiden Blaise https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Matthias-Farley-Jersey , on Thursday.Luckily Ebron’s wife is from Houston and the baby was born here, giving the tight end more time to spend with his new addition. He said he spent Friday night at the team hotel, but slept on a couch in the hospital on Thursday night after Aiden’s birth.He was even on daddy duty after the game, holding his adorable 14-month-old son Oliver during postgame interviews.“This is great, man,” he said. “It’s a great emotional win, man, and I want to cry just simply because of everything that I’ve been through and to have so much support from my family and friends has been a great journey.” HOUSTON (AP) — Saturday’s wild-card game between the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts is a matchup that seemed improbable early this season after Houston dropped its first three games and the Colts limped to a 1-5 start.Instead of letting their tough starts lead to disappointing years, these teams which both finished 4-12 last season turned things around to lead the AFC South and charge into the postseason.Houston’s rebound began at the expense of the Colts (10-6) and it was thanks in part to a controversial call by Indianapolis coach Frank Reich in overtime. The game was tied 34-34 when, instead of punting on fourth-and-4 from his 43-yard line and likely settling for a tie, Reich called for a short pass from Andrew Luck to Chester Rogers. Luck’s pass fell incomplete, Houston got a 24-yard completion on the next play, and Ka’imi Fairbairn made a 37-yard field goal as time expired to give the Texans (11-5) a 37-34 victory.Article continues below ...“We knew that to be able to come out on the winning end of that game was a big thing for us, but that’s a long time ago,” Houston coach Bill O’Brien said. “The teams have evolved over time, so it’s a new ballgame now.”The win was the first of nine straight for Houston. The Texans didn’t lose again until a visit from the Colts on Dec. 9, a 24-21 Indy victory. Houston then won two of its last three games, capped by a 20-3 victory over the Jaguars on Sunday to clinch the division — and become the sixth team since 1980 and first since 1998 to make the playoffs after a 0-3 start.The Colts’ loss to Houston in Week 4 was the second of four straight that dropped them to 1-5. Indianapolis then won its next five and nine of its last 10 to make its first playoff appearance since a 2014 AFC championship game loss at New England. Yes, the “Deflategate” game.The Colts are the third team in NFL history to reach the postseason after losing five of the first six games.These teams have more in common than their difficult starts. They’re both led by a player making a comeback after an injury.Luck returned after missing the 2017 season with a shoulder injury to throw for 4,593 yards and rank second in the NFL with 39 touchdown passes. His best games this season have come against Houston, piling up 863 yards passing with six touchdowns.Trying to slow him down on Saturday will be Houston’s comeback star J.J. Watt, who played all 16 games after starting just eight games combined in the previous two years because of back surgeries and a broken leg. Watt led the AFC with 16 sacks, had 25 quarterback hits, 18 tackles for losses and forced a career-high seven fumbles, which tied for most in the NFL.Watt said Luck has been getting rid of the ball quicker this season, which makes his job as a pass rusher much more difficult.“You try and do different things Christine Michael Sr Jersey , but at the end of the day, you try and get there, and if you can get your hands up, you get your hands up,” he said. “You just try and get there. You can’t really let it affect you, and you hope maybe he holds it for an extra second.”Some things to know about Houston’s game against Indianapolis:HILTON’S INSome of T.Y. Hilton’s most memorable moments have come against the Texans — especially when he visits Houston.The Colts’ top receiver has caught 41 passes for 933 yards with seven TDs in seven games at NRG Stadium, and in the last two trips to Houston Hilton has 14 receptions for 374 yards and two TDs. So even though he’s been hobbled by a bad ankle, which he initially injured at Houston on Dec. 9, Hilton insists he’ll be fine Sunday.“That’s probably why it’s starting to feel better,” Hilton joked earlier this week when asked about playing in Houston for the second time in a month.DESHAUN’S DEBUTHouston quarterback Deshaun Watson will make his playoff debut in his second year in the NFL. Don’t expect the 12th overall pick in the 2017 draft to be daunted by the challenge after he played plenty of huge games at Clemson, highlighted by leading his team to the national title game twice. The Tigers lost to Alabama when Watson was a sophomore before he helped Clemson beat Alabama 35-31 for the 2016 national championship.“It’s just another opportunity for myself and this whole team to be able to show what we’ve got and put in the work,” Watson said. “I’ve played in a lot of big games before in college and stuff, but you can’t really pit college playoffs with the NFL. This is the hardest business, top-notch. It’s a whole new season, a whole new speed of game. So it’s going to be new for me (and) it’s going to be a lot of fun.”TURNAROUND TIMEIndy didn’t just rebound from a 1-5 start to make the playoffs. It rewrote the book.While the oft-criticized offensive line allowed a league-low 18 sacks after giving up a league-high 56 in 2017, the biggest change came on defense, where the Colts were ranked No. 11. They had the league’s leading tackler, 26 takeaways, allowed only 16.4 points over the final eight games, and were one of three teams that didn’t allow a 100-yard rusher all season.The Colts know it will take more of the same to advance.“The last time we did a good job, that was great for us, but this is a new challenge this week,” Reich said when asked about defending Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins. “I’m sure they are going to try to get him going.”