Colts trail Texans 13-3 at halftime

In the biggest game of their season, the Indianapolis Colts came out incredibly flat in the first half. The Colts trail the Texans 13-3 at halftime, just 30 minutes away form falling into a huge hold in the AFC South.

That is, unless they can make a turnaround, and they’ll have the ball to start the second half. With Andrew Luck they’ve got a shot, but it will take playing much better than they did in the first half - because that first half was ugly.

The Colts ran 29 plays for 146 yards and had the ball for just 10:43, and Andrew Luck completed just 9 of 22 passes for 91 yards and an interception. He wasn’t particularly sharp, but the offensive line really struggled in the first half and the receivers struggled to gain separation. The run game didn’t get much done at all either, aside from Luck’s 33-yard run on a read option third down play. The team’s only score so far has been an Adam Vinatieri 32-yard field goal, but late in the half he also missed a 55-yard try.

That’s not all, however. The defense started strong, but late in the half they struggled, allowing the Texans to march 80 yards for a touchdown drive and then allowing Houston to notch a field goal off of Vinatieri’s miss. The Texans have run for 94 yards and a touchdown while averaging 4.5 yards per carry, and unfortunately for the Colts they seem to have started to learn that they should run the ball.

The Colts were booed off the field at Lucas Oil Stadium to close the first half, and it was deserved. It was an ugly and flat performance for the team in the biggest game of the year, and while there’s still time to turn things around, it will take a much better second half. Whatever happens, here’s your second half open thread.