INDIANAPOLIS -- The expression on J.J. Watt's face indicated he didn't care at all about any records he'd matched or feats he'd accomplished Sunday. His words confirmed as much.
Watt had two sacks, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries and one batted pass. He tied Mario Williams for the most sacks in franchise history (53), he joined Jason Taylor as one of two players in NFL history to have 10 sacks and 10 batted passes in two different seasons and, for the first time in his career, he had three multi-sack games in a row -- only he and Broncos linebacker Von Miller have done that this season.
"Individual stuff really doesn't mean a whole lot when you're losing a game like this," Watt said. "That's great, you guys can write about it all you want, but it doesn't really matter a whole lot to me."
Watt was part of a dominant day for the Texans' defense, but still the Texans fell to 7-7 with the 17-10 loss to their AFC South rival Indianapolis Colts. No defense had played the Colts as tough -- none had held them to so few points.
"They played their tails off," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said. "They fought. Even when they gave up some drives, some yardage, they held on for a field goal there at the end. They kept fighting. They were out there a lot and I give a lot of credit to our defensive players."
They gave up two touchdowns and only 278 yards to a team that averages the third-most first downs per game, second most points per game (31.3) and most yards per game (432.4) in the NFL. Two takeaways -- a Kendrick Lewis pick-six and an A.J. Bouye forced fumble -- gave this unit the most forced turnovers in franchise history.
"I got a good read on him," Lewis said. "He was eyeing down T.Y. [Hilton], he was trying to get him started and give him the ball. I was able to make a jump on it. From there I just got in the end zone."
This time, the return of what seems to be a quarterback curse on the Texans' franchise negated the impact of what Houston's defense did.
Even before losing quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to a fractured leg, the Texans' offense struggled in the first quarter, never getting past the Colts' 42-yard line. The Fitzpatrick-led offense only gained three first downs, the third came two plays before his injury, the second season-ending injury a Texans' quarterback has suffered this season.
There are times when a slow-starting Texans' offense can find its rhythm later in the game after learning what didn't work. They didn't have the chance for that this week. Fitzpatrick gave way to rookie fourth-round pick Tom Savage, for whom the process started again and in an even more dramatic way, as he hadn't been asked to play meaningful snaps in the past.
Savage struggled at first, naturally. When the Texans' defense got him the ball back, he immediately fumbled the exchange with running back Arian Foster, a play that gave the Colts the ball in Texans' territory. Indianapolis scored its second and last touchdown on that drive.
The Colts didn't get into Texans' territory again until just before the final two-minute warning. They got all the way to the Texans' 6-yard line, but only left with a field goal.
"We've got our third-string rookie quarterback in there getting thrown into the fire for the first time in a tough environment on the road," Watt said. "The way everybody fought, the way everybody pulled it together, I thought we did a good job of that, but there are no moral victories in the NFL."
The Texans' defense gave Savage time to find his bearings, and with that time he improved as the game progressed. But a winning drive would have been above and beyond what one could reasonably expect from Savage at that point.
Turmoil at quarterback has colored the past two seasons for the Texans. Last season it was the shocking collapse of Matt Schaub, followed by a jagged carousel between Case Keenum and Schaub. This season, that turmoil has had a lot to do with injuries. Fitzpatrick was benched for Ryan Mallett, who played two games before landing on injured reserve, then Fitzpatrick played two games and a little more than a quarter before his season ended, too.
All the while, the Texans' defense has been doing its job. Houston ranks seventh in the league in points allowed. The Texans' defense scores 1.8 points per game, the best in the league, tied with the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles. Both the Packers and the Eagles have significantly better point margins per game, though.
The Texans' defense has buttressed the team as the offense finds its way. It takes takes pride in doing so, but it needs more support from its other half.
