Colts vs. Texans, Week 5: Indianapolis wins another divisional game on ‘Thursday Night Football’

Here is a table with the last 16 games the Colts have played against divisional rivals, via Stampede Blue:

The Colts are now at 3-2 on the season, atop the division thanks to the other three teams struggling. Houston falls to 1-4, while the Titans and Jaguars are 1-2 and 1-3, respectively. Tennessee had its bye week last week. The Colts have a long way to go from here, but they achieved something very impressive on Thursday.

Following the end of the drive, Foster was seen with the trainers on the bench, along with the league’s independent neurologist. They took his helmet from him. The independent neurologist is supposed to take control and stop the team from allowing Foster to go back onto the field. Foster was seen as being very angry on the sideline, likely after they told him he’d have to go back to the locker room.

Whatever the case, Foster was ultimately cleared and returned to the game at the start of the second half. Even with Foster being cleared eventually, the Texans organization and Foster himself will likely have some questions to answer.

Of course, this isn’t Jaelen Strong’s first go-round with a Hail Mary. He also caught a Hail Mary to lift Arizona State to a win over USC.

It’s unclear if the Texans intend to replace Mallett permanently or if they are just seeing what Hoyer can do at this point, but this is yet another chapter in the quarterback battle between the two. Hoyer was named the starter after a preseason battle, but was replaced in the first game. Hoyer also played late in Week 4 after Mallett was benched in the Texans’ loss.

Mallett completed 7 of 10 passes for 50 yards with no touchdowns and an interception before leaving the game. The interception came on the first drive of the game, after he led the Texans into the red zone. Coming into this game, Mallett had completed 51.8 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and three interceptions, while Hoyer had completed 54.7 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and one interception.

The divisional rivals are two of lowest-rated passing teams through the first four weeks. Luckily for both, the Colts’ and Texans’ defenses have struggled so far in 2015. The Colts enter with the NFL’s No. 27 defense, while the Texans are No. 26 in points allowed.

Avoiding mistakes against defenses that have struggled at times to get off the field will be key for a pair of offenses that have had issues holding on to the ball.