Gamble by Indy benefits Houston
INDIANAPOLIS — Ka’imi Fairbairn took advantage of his second chance on a 37-yard field-goal attempt Sunday, making it as time expired in overtime to give Houston a 37-34 victory over the Colts.
Fairbairn had missed the first kick wide left — just after Indianapolis called timeout. Houston (1-3) ended the league’s longest losing streak at nine games with its first win since Nov. 19.
The Colts threw an incomplete pass on 4th-and-4 from their 43, giving the ball back to Houston with 24 seconds to go. Deshaun Watson then connected with DeAndre Hopkins on a 24-yard pass to set up the winning kick.
“We’re not playing to tie,” Indianapolis head coach Frank Reich said. “We’re going for that 10 times out of 10. That’s just got to work.”
It’s the third time in four weeks Indianapolis (1-3) has come up short in the closing minutes. The loss spoiled Adam Vinatieri’s record-breaking day.
The 45-year-old kicker became the league’s career leader in field goals when he made a 42-yarder with two seconds left in the first half and he extended the mark to 567 with a 44-yarder on the first possession of overtime to give the Colts a 34-31 lead in overtime.
Fairbairn tied the score with a 29-yard kick and won it with the 37-yarder.
“We found a way to get off the field and got a win,” said Houston’s J.J. Watt, who had two sacks.
Vinatieri moved past Hall of Famer Morten Andersen, who had 565 career field goals.
Watson was 29-for-42 passing for 375 yards and two touchdown passes with one interception. He also ran six times for 41 yards and a touchdown.
Hopkins had 10 catches for 169 yards and Keke Coutee had 11 catches for 109 yards.
Luck, whose final pass hit the ground, was 40-for-62 passing for a career-high 464 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.
The Colts struck first, using T.Y. Hilton’s 40-yard reception to set up a 4-yard TD pass from Luck to Zach Pascal.
The Texans tied it on Jadeveon Clowney’s recovery of a botched snap in the end zone, then took the lead on Watson’s 3-yard TD pass to Will Fuller. They made it 21-7 when Hopkins caught a 5-yard TD pass.
Vinatieri’s field goal cut the Colts’ deficit to 21-10 at halftime.
The Texans made it 28-10 with Watson’s 5-yard TD run to open the second half.
Luck then hit Nyheim Hines on a 14-yard TD pass to make it 28-17 and Eric Ebron on a 5-yard TD pass to make it 28-23. After Fairbairn made a 40-yard field goal to give the Texans a 31-23 lead with 2:58 left, Luck took the Colts 85 yards in a little more than two minutes and threw a 9-yard TD pass to Hines and a two-point conversion pass to Chester Rogers with 45 seconds left in regulation.