Texans edge out Colts, 24-21

I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to recap this game, because it was played a day or two ago (I suck at the concept of time, clearly), and I don't recall everything that happened. But I do want to say that Chad is an awesome, awesome player, and I just had two great games, two weeks in a row.

Chad started out with a massive TD to Pierre Garcon on the second play of the game, completely exploiting the cover 2 my defense was playing. DRC had blood on his hands at that point, so I had to mix up my strategy. On my drive, he forced a three-and-out, and it was back to the Colts. However, Aspha Savage had a huge pick for me in mid-field, and the Texans capitalized. Garcon would go 2 for 131 yds and 2 TDs in this game. WOW!

Lots of back-and-forth play from there on out. Both teams punted, but I don't think either one of us truly "controlled" the game. Chad's passing attack was tough, as the Colts have so many offensive weapons that it's hard to keep track of them. Not to mention the Dallas Clark/Jason Witten combo ensured that a good receiving TE was always present (which I knew he liked to use). Clark had a good day, going 4 for 75 and a TD, though it felt like it was much more than that, as I was ever-aware of my LBs that wound up covering him (if I wasn't covering him myself). But

The Colts would throw another pick to CB Sam Shields, and SS Aspha Savage had a sack of his own (@asphasavage is putting out a warning to all QBs on Twitter, by the way). Matthew Stafford threw a pick of his own in the red zone. Near the end of the first half, the Texans, on the one yard line and having trouble converting for a TD (Colts defense are no slouches), opted to go for the TD on 4th down... and failed. D'oh!

WR Lenoy "The Playboy" Tucker and HB Earl "Bones" Bowman were once again the stars on offense for the Texans. Bones had a 72ish yd TD run, making his stats 19 for 148 and 1 TD for the game. In the second half, both teams really brought the heat, pressuring the QB to force passes and trying to stuff the run. The Colts were more successful in stuffing the run than stopping the pass, and vice versa for the Texans.

The Texans had a scare in the red zone when Bones went down with an injury, and Madden refused to explain what was going on (f'n hate when that happens). However, the Texans returned the favor by bruising Sam Bradford's sternum, taking him out of the game about mid-way through. The Colts happened to pick up Luke Bertrand in the draft (the QB that the draft class happens to be named after) and he actually did pretty damn well in Bradford's place. Have you seen Bradford's stats, by the way? The guy is pretty great! Who knew?

But it came down to a 4th and 16 on the Texans' 48 yd line, with less than two minutes to go in the game, the score 24-21 in favor of Houston/Milwaukee. Chad opted to roll the dice and try converting the 4th down instead of trying for a long field goal, and put the ball in the hands of Dallas Clark. Clark caught the ball, but it was Aspha Savage that brought him down less than two yards before the first down line.

Again, this was a great, down-to-the-wire game where every second mattered. The Colts had a quick, filthy passing attack while the Texans had a slow, deliberate, time-consuming attack, and both teams matched up perfectly. Classy game, and I can't wait to play Chad again in a few weeks.

Stats!

Colts / Texans
Total Offense Yards - 334 / 386
Passing Offense Yards - 290 / 242
Rushing Offense Yards - 44 / 144
First Downs - 9 / 11
3rd Down % - 28.6 / 28.6
Turnovers - 2 / 1
Redzone Scoring % - 0.0 / 60.0
Time of Possession - 12.1 / 19.9

Passing
[IND] Sam Bradford QB - 6/14, 159 yds, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
[IND] Luke Bertrand QB - 8/13, 143 yds, 1 TD
[HOU] Matthew Stafford QB - 14/24, 242 yds, 2 TDs, 1 INT

Rushing
[IND] Brandon Boutte HB - 9 for 44 yds
[HOU] Earl Bowman HB - 19 for 148 yds, 1 TD

Receiving
[IND] Pierre Garcon WR - 2 for 131 yds, 2 TDs
[IND] Dallas Clark TE - 4 for 75 yds, 1 TD
[IND] Brandon Boutte HB - 4 for 45 yds
[HOU] Lenoy Tucker WR - 5 for 103 yds
[HOU] Roddy White WR - 2 for 83 yds
[HOU] Marques Colston WR - 2 for 15 yds, 1 TD

Yeah, I was wanting to do a write-up on this one as well, but life has been pretty crazy lately. I just want to thank Mike for doing this one cover a great game between us.

I have really been enjoying playing in the league this year. I have had some really fun games and everyone has been really classy and good sports overall. I am looking forward to having more time to do get more involved with the league when things slow down for me a bit. Hopefully that doesn't take until Madden 12 the way things have been going.

As great as this game was, there was a bit of a weird feel to it for me as I have been playing some NCAA 12 and have been getting accustomed to the pacing and passing speed of that game as opposed to Madden. It is an interesting situation to be in-between the two games as the '12 games have quite a different feel to them.

Playing NCAA 12 is making me that much more excited for playing in 4th String for Madden 12. I think the '12 games are going to be great for the league and am looking forward to football strategy being more rewarded (zones) along with the other upgrades that have been made.

Loving the league!