Colts Surprise the 49ers, Texans Luck Ends Against the Ravens

With all eyes on the Andrew Luck – Jim Harbaugh reunion, this storyline was quickly pushed aside with the Indianapolis Colts (2-1) play in its 27-7 win against the San Francisco 49ers (1-2) on Sunday.

Luck reminded his college coach of his talent as he went 18-for-27 and 164 yards. He set the tone for a good game at the start, going 6-for-6 on his first passes. His leadership spurred the win while 49ers coach Harbaugh incurred his first two straight losses as a NFL coach in his three seasons.

The quarterback said of playing against Harbaugh for the first time via ESPN, “I wasn’t caught up in, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going up against Coach Harbaugh, (Greg) Roman and (Vic) Fangio. I figured any time you play this sport, coaches and players come and go so much that you always end up going against someone that you played for or played with or had a good relationship with.”

Andrew Luck

Along with Luck’s good play, new running back Trent Richardson–who stole last week’s headlines with his trade–showed up in his first game as a Colt and in his inaugural carry, scored a one-yard touchdown. For the game, he had 13 carries for 35 yards.

Fellow running back Ahmad Bradshaw stepped up with 19 carries for 95 yards and one touchdown. From this duo’s play, the Colts had more rushing yards (179) in the game than passing (157)–a first since the Dec. 18, 2011 matchup against the Tennessee Titans (2-1).

Overall the Colts looked better prepared and held San Francisco to 254 yards with two forced turnovers.

For 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, he suffered his first loss as a starter on the home field. In this off day, he only completed two of eight passes in the first half. For the game, Kapernick went 13 for 27, 150 yards, one pick and three sacks. He only ran for 20 yards and from this play, he had an 11.8 total QBR–the lowest from any of his career starts.

With the win, the Colts have entered the conversation as an strong AFC contender for the postseason but they have some work to do to rise as 2014 Super Bowl winners (50/1).

Next week, the Colts will play the Jacksonville Jaguars (0-3).

Texans Fall to the Ravens

After overcoming deficits the last two week to secure wins, the Houston Texans (2-1) fell victim to their mistakes on Sunday and lost to the Baltimore Ravens (2-1), 30-9.

Matt Schaub

In the first half, Houston had a 6-3 lead but quarterback Matt Schaub was intercepted by Daryl Smith with less than three minutes remaining. The Ravens took their first lead and kept it for the remainder of the game.

The Texans added three more points before halftime with a 47-yarder by Randy Bullock. He was the team’s MVP as his three field goals in the game represented the only scores.

For the day, the Texans only had 107 yards of offense with zero coming in the the second half. Its defense allowed 236 total yards–a first since 2007 when the team gave up less than 250 yards but lost.

Texans quarterback Schaub went 25 for 35, 194 yards and one interception. He played without wide receiver Andre Johnson (5 for 36 yards) for most of the second half as the player battled a shin bruise.

With the low offensive numbers, a nod needs to go to the Ravens defense. It has not given up a touchdown in eight quarters since its Week 1 49-27 loss against the Denver Broncos (3-0) and with Sunday’s win, it avenges last year’s 43-13 loss against the Texans.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco went 16 of 24 with 171 yards. In running back Ray Rice’s absence, Bernard Pierce stepped up with 24 carries for 65 yards and one touchdown.

Looking ahead for the Texans, they sit at 12/1 to win the 2014 Super Bowl. Next Sunday they’ll host the Seattle Seahawks (3-0).