:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/4020252/124723523.jpg)
This is a weekly series we will do to highlight certain statistics from a Colts regular season game. This is separate from Matt Grecco's excellent 'The Winning Stats' system.
Week 1: Texans 34, Colts 7
Stat 1: Texans rushed for 167 yards on the Colts
The positive: The Texans needed 41 carries to reached 167 yards, and had a per-rush average of 4.1. That's not horrible run defense by the Colts, especially when considering the Texans usually average 5 yards a carry against Indy.
The negative: Giving up 167 rushing yards is still giving up 167 friggin rushing yards! Texans also had two rushing TDs, and didn't punt the football until roughly 8 minutes remained in the third quarter and the score was 34-0, Houston.
Stat 2: Colts averaged 4.0 yards a rush
The positive: Joseph Addai looked good running the ball, and Delone Carter got into the act with 25 yards on seven carries.
The negative: Turnovers killed the running game. When the score gets to 17-0, 24-0, or 34-0 before the third quarter, the running game gets abandoned. Indy ran for a total of 64 yards.
Stat 3: Colts held Texans to 50% efficiency in the redzone, 3 of 6
The positive: Keeping teams out of the endzone is critical in a Tampa-2 defense, or, really, ANY defense. But, especially in Indy, holding teams to FGs puts pressure on them because they know the Colts can score and are deadly efficient in the redzone.
The negative: Peyton Manning is likely done for 2011 and, thus, teams have no pressure on them to score TDs. Once the Texans game became 17-0, the Colts were finished. Kerry Collins is not a QB that is known for leading great comebacks. Also, the Colts allowed Houston in their redzone six times. That's a minimum of 26 points the Texans should come away with, assuming they are less than 50% in redzone efficiency. With Collins at QB, if the Colts surrender 26 points, they're done.
What stats did you notice?