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Texans seek revenge against Colts

Nov 11, 2008 - 6:02 PM HOUSTON (3-6) AT INDIANAPOLIS (5-4), 1:00 pm EST

INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The Indianapolis Colts may have saved their season against the Houston Texans. Now they look to keep their resurgence going at Houston's expense.

Coming off a pair of critical victories to move over .500 for the second time this season, Indianapolis seeks its third consecutive victory when it hosts the Texans on Sunday.

In the first meeting between the teams on October 5, the Colts took advantage of a stunning turnover-induced collapse to score 21 points in a span of 2:10 to steal a 31-27 victory.

Trailing 27-10 and on the verge of falling to 1-3 on the season, Indianapolis took advantage of a pair of fumbles and an interception by backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels in the final five minutes to drop Houston to 0-4 at the time.

Even though the Colts again dipped under .500 following back-to-back road losses at Green Bay and Tennessee, they seemed to find their footing in the past two weeks.

Indianapolis squeezed out an 18-15 victory over New England on November 2 and had its most impressive performance in last weekend's 24-20 win at the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Peyton Manning finished just 21-of-40 for 240 yards but threw three touchdown passes, including a 17-yarder to Dominic Rhodes for the go-ahead score with 3:04 to play.

"We hung in there and made plays when it counted," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "Our defense got some takeaways and our offense took advantage. All in all, very satisfying."

Indianapolis cannot afford to let up against the Texans. Trailing undefeated Tennessee by four games in the AFC South, the Colts' chances to reach the playoffs likely will come via the wild card.

With the running game continuing to struggle, wide receiver Reggie Wayne hauled in six receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown - just the second 100-yard effort by the Pro Bowler this season.

The Texans bounced back from the first debacle against the Colts with three straight wins, but they have dropped their last two, including a crushing 41-13 home defeat to the Baltimore Ravens this past weekend.

Rosenfels, starting for an injured Matt Schaub, threw for a season-high 294 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted four times, helping Baltimore roll up 29 points in the second half.

"We self-destructed," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "Obviously, I did a poor job of having our guys ready to play in the second half. I was hoping we would control their offense. Then we got down a couple of scores, and we had to get more aggressive than we wanted."

Indianapolis leads the all-time series, 12-1, and holds a 6-0 record at home against Houston.