INDIANAPOLIS, Ind -
Officially, Houston possessed the football for 34:33, and Indianapolis 25:27, in the Colts 20-17 win over the Texans in Week 9. The Colts game plan early was to use the hurry-up offense. A strategy Jim Caldwell said was in attempt to fatigue a fast, Texans defense.
But key to the victory wasn't the time each team held onto the football, but, maybe, the time that occurred in between when Ryan Moats fumbled the football and when the referee's upheld Jim Caldwell's 2nd quarter coach's challenge.
Read: Colts survive just barely beating Texans, 20-17
Let's take a look back.
With the Colts leading 13-0, Houston had the ball on the Indianapolis 10-yard line with 2:30 left to play in the first half. With a 1st & 10, the Texans lined up with an empty backfield before quarterback Matt Schaub hit Ryan Moats in the left flat. Moats turned up the field and toward the end zone before being tackled and knocked out of bounds by Colts safety, Antoine Bethea. While both players tumbled out of bounds, the ball was left sitting in bounds and touching the goal line. Chasing the play was cornerback Jerraud Powers who, after momentum took him beyond the sideline, came back in bounds to pick up the loose ball.
To most of the players on the field (and many of the 66,033 in attendance) the play looked innocent enough. Apparently, so did it to the coaching staff of the Houston Texans who were in no hurry to run another play and avoid a potential coach's challenge from the Colts. When the 9-yard pass and completion to Moats ended, there was 2:24 left on the clock. As the Texans lined up around the Colts 1-yard line, there was still 12 seconds to go before the 2-minute warning. Houston allowed the remaining seconds to tick off the clock.
More: Read Jeremiah Johnson's Colts and Texans Notebook
Also: "Next Man Up" works for defense writes Larry Hawley
During the 2-minute warning and throughout the television timeout, 2 minutes and 40 seconds of real time elapsed. Once the official's reset the game to continue, Colts coach Jim Caldwell called the crew to the sidelines for a discussion which added close to another minute of delay. Following the conversation, the Texans were about to set up at the line of scrimmage when Caldwell, after waiting some more, tossed the red flag to challenge the fumble.
Another meeting took place as the play was challenged which caused the network to take another television timeout. When coverage returned to Lucas Oil Stadium, the play was still being reviewed. Finally, the referee, Jim Triplette, gave this detailed announcement of the official decision to Jim Caldwell's challenge
"After reviewing the play, the runner does fumble the football prior to being downed by contact. The ball stays in bounds, the Indianapolis defender is out of bounds when the ball is laying on the goal line, comes back and with one foot down touches the football. Therefore, it is a fumble out of bounds in the end zone. It's a touchback - First and Ten Indianapolis on the 20 yard line."
(Triplette's explanation lasted 33 seconds)
In between when the play in question was run and when the decision was made, 9:51 of actual time elapsed.
A long time and a very timely decision helped the Colts preserve a victory in a game that would ultimately be decided by 3 points. A great call by head coach Jim Caldwell to help the Colts remain undefeated in 2009.
And it could not have come at a better time.
But key to the victory wasn't the time each team held onto the football, but, maybe, the time that occurred in between when Ryan Moats fumbled the football and when the referee's upheld Jim Caldwell's 2nd quarter coach's challenge.
Read: Colts survive just barely beating Texans, 20-17
Let's take a look back.
With the Colts leading 13-0, Houston had the ball on the Indianapolis 10-yard line with 2:30 left to play in the first half. With a 1st & 10, the Texans lined up with an empty backfield before quarterback Matt Schaub hit Ryan Moats in the left flat. Moats turned up the field and toward the end zone before being tackled and knocked out of bounds by Colts safety, Antoine Bethea. While both players tumbled out of bounds, the ball was left sitting in bounds and touching the goal line. Chasing the play was cornerback Jerraud Powers who, after momentum took him beyond the sideline, came back in bounds to pick up the loose ball.
To most of the players on the field (and many of the 66,033 in attendance) the play looked innocent enough. Apparently, so did it to the coaching staff of the Houston Texans who were in no hurry to run another play and avoid a potential coach's challenge from the Colts. When the 9-yard pass and completion to Moats ended, there was 2:24 left on the clock. As the Texans lined up around the Colts 1-yard line, there was still 12 seconds to go before the 2-minute warning. Houston allowed the remaining seconds to tick off the clock.
More: Read Jeremiah Johnson's Colts and Texans Notebook
Also: "Next Man Up" works for defense writes Larry Hawley
During the 2-minute warning and throughout the television timeout, 2 minutes and 40 seconds of real time elapsed. Once the official's reset the game to continue, Colts coach Jim Caldwell called the crew to the sidelines for a discussion which added close to another minute of delay. Following the conversation, the Texans were about to set up at the line of scrimmage when Caldwell, after waiting some more, tossed the red flag to challenge the fumble.
Another meeting took place as the play was challenged which caused the network to take another television timeout. When coverage returned to Lucas Oil Stadium, the play was still being reviewed. Finally, the referee, Jim Triplette, gave this detailed announcement of the official decision to Jim Caldwell's challenge
"After reviewing the play, the runner does fumble the football prior to being downed by contact. The ball stays in bounds, the Indianapolis defender is out of bounds when the ball is laying on the goal line, comes back and with one foot down touches the football. Therefore, it is a fumble out of bounds in the end zone. It's a touchback - First and Ten Indianapolis on the 20 yard line."
(Triplette's explanation lasted 33 seconds)
In between when the play in question was run and when the decision was made, 9:51 of actual time elapsed.
A long time and a very timely decision helped the Colts preserve a victory in a game that would ultimately be decided by 3 points. A great call by head coach Jim Caldwell to help the Colts remain undefeated in 2009.
And it could not have come at a better time.
