Luck shows up hometown team in Colts’ playoff win
Colts 21, Texans 7
HOUSTON — A year ago at this time, Andrew Luck was at home struggling with an injured shoulder that cost him the entire season.
On Saturday he wrote a happy ending to the latest chapter of his comeback season, throwing for 222 yards and two touchdowns, and the Indianapolis Colts raced to a big lead and cruised to a 21-7 win over the Houston Texans in an AFC wildcard game.
Luck put on a show in his hometown in a stadium where he had attended games throughout childhood and played in them since high school, throwing for 191 yards and two touchdowns before halftime to help the Colts (11-6) build a 21-0 lead.
He denied feeling "at home" at NRG Stadium, but admitted to having warm feelings for the city he grew up in and where his grandparents and many friends still reside.
"But it's still an away stadium," he said. "It was very loud, very energetic, but fun to win, certainly."
Running back Marlon Mack had 148 yards and a touchdown for Indianapolis, which advances to face the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round next weekend.
"We know we have an elite quarterback and we can throw it for 400 and win when we have to," Indianapolis coach Frank Reich said. "But the margin for error in playoff football when you try to do it that way is very thin. When you can win like this — running the football and stopping it — that's just everything."
Houston (11-6), which overcame a 0-3 start to win the AFC South, gave up too many big plays and couldn't get anything going on offense in the first half to fall into the three-touchdown deficit.
Deshaun Watson, NFL playoffs
WILD-CARD ROUND Saturday
AFC: Indianapolis 21, Houston 7
NFC: Dallas 24, Seattle 22 Sunday
AFC: L.A. Chargers at Baltimore, 1:05 p.m. (CBS) NFC: Philadelphia at Chicago, 4:40 p.m. (NBC)
DIVISIONAL ROUND Saturday, Jan. 12 AFC: Indianapolis at Kansas City, 4:35 p.m. (NBC)
NFC: Chicago or Dallas at L.A. Rams, 8:15 p.m. (Fox) Sunday, Jan. 13
AFC: Baltimore or L.A. Chargers at New England, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)
NFC: Dallas or Philadelphia at New Orleans, 4:40 p.m. (Fox) who was sacked an Nfl-leading 62 times in the regular season, was sacked three times and hit eight more times in a disappointing playoff debut. He finished with 235 yards passing, with a touchdown and an interception.
"Just a lack of execution on our part," Watson said. "We didn't make plays. I didn't make plays. Communication was a little off. You just got to give the Colts the credit."
The Colts, who opened the season 1-5, continued an impressive run by winning their fifth straight and for the 10th time in 11 games. It was another good game in a splendid season for Luck. He threw for 4,593 yards and 39 touchdowns in the regular season after missing all of 2017 with a shoulder injury.
The Texans didn't score until rookie Keke Coutee grabbed a 6-yard touchdown with about 11 minutes left.
Luck found Eric Ebron on a 6-yard TD pass on their first drive, and the Colts drove down the field easily on their second possession and made it 14-0 on a 2-yard run by Mack later in the first.