–Defensive end Denico Autry returned from missing two games with an ankle injury to make a career-high nine tackles with two sacks and four tackles for loss against the Texans. “His explosiveness off the ball, I think that’s what kind of caught my eye from the beginning with Denico,” Colts head coach Frank Reich said of Autry, an offseason free agent who signed a three-year, $17.8 million contract with the Colts after spending four seasons in Oakland. “He really can get off the ball, and that showed up on Sunday.”
–Quarterback Andrew Luck doesn’t need to be reminded he’s never defeated the Patriots in five meetings. “Certainly in my experience, we’ve come up on the short end, and that’s not fun,” Luck said. “Obviously we’d like to turn that around. We’d like to flip the story, in a sense.”
–Luck became just the 11th quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 450 yards with four TDs and no interceptions when he completed 40 of 62 passes for 464 yards and four TDs against the Texans. The 62 pass attempts are a franchise record. The 40 completions tied Peyton Manning for most in team history. The 464 yards were eight shy of Manning’s team mark. That said, Luck laments what the offense hasn’t done. “Sharp football for 60 minutes is something we probably have not done yet here this year,” he said. A botched snap was recovered for a Texans touchdown and Luck lost another fumble when sacked by J.J. Watt at the Colts’ 8 that resulted in a Texans TD two plays later.
–Reich admitted the Colts had a “more than normal” number of dropped passes against the Texans, at least “six or seven.” But the former quarterback turned NFL head coach doesn’t see the need to say anything to his receivers. “My experience is, as a former quarterback and a coach, I don’t know how much good it does to go tell the guy, ‘Catch the ball. Don’t drop it,'” Reich said. “I mean, of course he’s not trying to drop it. You just take the positive approach and make the next play that comes to you. In this particular case, it was a different guy every time. It wasn’t one player who was struggling.”
–Colts players didn’t have much to say about facing Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who was announced in the offseason as the Colts’ new head coach but then backed out on the job. Colts GM Chris Ballard was upset enough at the time to say of the Colts vs. Patriots history, “The rivalry is back on.” That comment resonated with Luck. “Yeah, I think we all heard that comment,” Luck said with a hearty laugh. “I chuckled. I’ve grown to know Chris very well and from day one, I really appreciate him. He’s been honest and communicative and I think a great leader for this building. That was his authentic self-comment and it made me happy. I love when you get to see authenticity from people, especially your leaders in this building.”
–Colts rookie defensive end Kemoko Turay is looking forward to having the chance to get after Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. The second-round selection has two sacks. But when asked what it would mean to sack one of the NFL’s greatest quarterbacks, Turay didn’t want to get too ahead of himself. “Stay tuned to when it happens,” Turay said. “Then I’ll tell you how I feel.”
BY THE NUMBERS: 24.6 – Average margin of victory for the Patriots in the past five wins over the Colts. In the last three games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., that margin is 31.3.
