Colts end nine-game skid as Shrader's 53-yarder beats Texans 19-17
The short version
- Spencer Shrader's 53-yard field goal with 16 seconds left gave Indianapolis a 19-17 home win over Houston.
- The victory ended a nine-game winless run dating to last October and five straight losses to the Texans.
- Shrader went 4-for-4 on field goals (39, 58, 37, 53 yards) for 13 points; the 58-yarder was a career long.
- Keenan Allen caught six passes for 63 yards and a TD, passing Andre Johnson for 12th on the all-time receptions list.
- The Colts visit the Washington Commanders in London next week at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 9:30 a.m. kickoff.
Spencer Shrader hit four field goals, including a 58-yarder and the 53-yard decider with 16 seconds left, as Indianapolis edged Houston 19-17 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Spencer Shrader's 53-yard field goal with 16 seconds left gave the Indianapolis Colts a 19-17 victory over the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium. Indianapolis controlled matters for most of the afternoon before a late Houston lead forced the decisive response.
The win ended a run of nine games without a victory stretching back to last October, what had been the league's worst losing streak carried over from last season, and five straight defeats against the division rival Texans. It also arrived amid a slow start to the Colts' 2026 campaign.
Houston's only lead came with 1:48 remaining, when running back Woody Marks bulled in for a touchdown that flipped a nine-point hole into a 17-16 advantage. Daniel Jones answered by connecting with Laquon Treadwell for 20 yards, and after a replay review reversed a first-down call on Keenan Allen's six-yard reception, Indianapolis faced fourth-and-1 at the Houston 36. Shrader's attempt was true, and the home crowd erupted in a way it had not in 11 months.
Shrader converted all four of his field-goal tries, from 39, 58, 37 and 53 yards, supplying 13 of Indianapolis' 19 points. The 58-yarder just before halftime was the longest successful kick of his career.
The Colts defense kept pressure on the Houston backfield all game. DeForest Buckner sacked C.J. Stroud to end the Texans' opening possession, and Adetomiwa Adebawore added a sack that stopped another Houston drive. Stroud was held to 40 passing yards in the first half, and the Texans finished with five three-and-outs.
Indianapolis also succeeded on both of its fourth-down attempts. On a first-quarter try, Jones kept the ball, swung around the edge and absorbed contact from cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. to pick up the yardage, extending a drive that Shrader capped with his 39-yarder. Early in the second quarter, Jones found Allen on a six-yard touchdown pass, the Colts' only trip into the end zone.
Allen, added to give the offense a dependable third-down weapon as Indianapolis worked through trouble sustaining drives, closed with six catches for 63 yards and the score. The performance lifted him past Andre Johnson into 12th place on the all-time receptions list.
Jones completed 24 of 36 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown, though his day was far from clean. He went down on four sacks, lost a pair of fumbles and had a pass intercepted by Reid Blankenship near the goal line. Indianapolis finished minus-3 in turnover differential, becoming the first Colts team this century to win a game with that margin.
Next up, the Colts travel to London to face the Washington Commanders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with an early kickoff scheduled for 9:30 a.m. next week.
