Hilton clowns Houston DBs
Texans call mask worn by Colts wide receiver ‘disrespectful’ but don’t make him pay
Arriving at the stadium in a clown mask hours before kickoff Saturday, Indianapolis Colts star wide receiver T.Y. Hilton played the part of Pennywise from Stephen King’s “It” as he strolled down the sideline.
Intent on terrorizing the Texans’ overmatched, speed-deficient defense at NRG Stadium, Hilton looked quite comfortable again at a place he loves to call his second home. Hilton got the final word as he completed his domination of the AFC South champions, clowning them repeatedly as the Colts took a three-touchdown lead at the half on their way to a 21-7 AFC wildcard playoff win.
The roots of Hilton using the Texans for a gag went back to 34year-old Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph saying days before kickoff that the four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver’s trash talk was for “clowns.”
Hilton has the ammunition to back up his words, though. In three games against the Texans this season, he totaled 18 receptions for 399 yards. That included five catches for 85 yards Saturday.
In 15 career games against them, Hilton has totaled 80 catches for 1,505 yards and nine touchdowns.
“The mask is about to be retired, gotta love Party City,” said Hilton, who displayed the clown mask in his locker after the game. “I got a lot of messages about what ( Joseph) said. It was something that I wanted to have fun with. It’s over, I always do my talking on the field.
“I’m not a big talker. I don’t jaw off. I just go out there and do my job and do what my teammates need me to do, and we got a win.”
A somber Texans locker room felt the sting of allowing 200 rushing yards, including a career-high 148 yards by running back Marlon Mack. That hurt even more than how Hilton taunted them before and after the game.
“It’s disrespectful,” Texans cornerback Shareece Wright said. “It definitely pissed us off, but we didn’t make him pay for it. We should have. I thought that guy was crazy for him to do that.
“It’s disrespectful, but we can’t allow a guy to come in here and do that and then win. It’s not even about that. You kind of forget about that stuff during the game. You’re trying to get a win, and that’s what we didn’t do.”
Between Hilton making an impact with his speed and quickness despite a sore ankle, Mack steamrolling a traditionally stout run defense, and quarterback Andrew Luck shredding the secondary during the first half that decided the game, it was an ugly performance that exposed the Texans’ shortcomings.
The Texans were a step behind the Colts throughout the game, failing to muster much resistance in any phase of the game until the second half.
Mack repeatedly beat the Texans’ defense to the punch, working the perimeter for the majority of his yards.
Not being able to stop the run was a major departure from how the Texans performed during the regular seasons. They led the NFL in allowing just 3.44 yards per carry and were one of just three teams to not allow a 100yard rusher during the regular season along with the Colts and New Orleans Saints.
“They got off to a better start than us,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “It’s going to be a long offseason for us. We have to correct things and do things better. Any time you’re able to run for 200 yards, you can pretty much do whatever you want as a play-caller. We still have a lot to be proud of.”
The Colts converted 9 of 14 third downs. Luck completed 19 of 32 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns with one interception for an 88.3 passer rating.
Luck was generally masterful against the Texans this season, passing for 1,085 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions.
Besides finding Hilton downfield, Luck spread the football around. He hit wide receiver Dontrelle Inman for a touchdown pass as he beat Wright on a double move for an 18-yard score. He also found Pro Bowl tight end Eric Ebron for a 6-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the first quarter.
“He’s a smart quarterback,” Wright said. “We’ve got to do a better job. With a guy like that, we’ve got to be able to cover and bring pressure.”
The Texans never sacked Luck after sacking him a total of six times in the previous two games. They only hit him four times.
“It’s very tough,” said defensive end J.J. Watt, who led the AFC with 16 sacks during the regular season. “It’s frustrating. You have to give the Colts a lot of credit for the way they played, especially early in the game. We just didn’t do enough.
“It sucks. I love every guy in that locker room. I know we started out 0-3 and most everybody wrote us off. We found a way to come back. Like I’ve said all year, there’s no such thing as a moral victory. None of it really matters right now.”
The Texans allowed 26 first downs and 422 yards of total offense. Colts coach Frank Reich’s unpredictable strategies won the day against Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel’s unit.
“They came out better than we did,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “Frank did a good job, had his team ready to go. They converted some third downs. Before you know it, we were down 14-0.
“They did a better job than we did, obviously. We just weren’t able to get it done. It’s a collective effort.”
Hilton left NRG Stadium with his second win in three games against the Texans, advancing to the AFC divisional round to play the Kansas City Chiefs. The mask goes with him.
“I guess you could say it’s disrespectful, but, for me, I don’t think it’s disrespectful,” Joseph said. “He has his freedom to do whatever he wants.”