Houston Texans: The 2011 season outcome had Matt Schaub been healthy

Week 16 – December 22, 2011 Houston Texans @ Indianapolis Colts

Actual Score: Indianapolis 19, Houston 16

Simulated Score: Indianapolis 18, Houston 17

Well, the score was closer than the real game itself, but Houston’s woes in Indianapolis will continue on with Schaub at quarterback as Houston sees an eight-game winning streak end. The Texans led 14-3 after the first quarter before the game slipped away from them.

Houston would lead 17-9 in the fourth quarter before Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal to cut the lead to five. After stopping the Texans, the Colts got the ball back. Sadly, our Texans defense was unable to stop the Colts who won when Dallas Clark found the end zone with one second left.

Schaub would go 11-25 for 150 yards and one TD pass to Joel Dreessen while Owen Daniels would catch three passes for 67 yards.

There is one shining moment here as this would’ve been a coming out party for some rookie from Wisconsin we drafted who had nine tackles and one sack.

Scoring

1st Quarter

HOU – 11:49 TD Ben Tate 16 yd run (7-0 HOU)

HOU – 8:22 TD Joel Dreessen 2 yd pass from Schaub (14-0 HOU)

IND – 0:07 FG Adam Vinatieri 39 yds (14-3 HOU)

2nd Quarter 

IND – 7:26 FG Adam Vinatieri 39 yds (14-6 HOU)

IND – 1:49 FG Adam Vinatieri 39 yds (14-9 HOU)

4th Quarter

HOU – 10:42 FG Neil Rackers 34 yds (17-9 HOU)

IND – 2:20 FG Adam Vinatieri 39 yds (17-12 HOU)

IND – 0:01 TD Dallas Clark 5 yd pass from Dan Orlovsky (18-17 IND)

A heartbreaking loss it would’ve been. But the best part was that Houston still had a playoff spot as they prepared to play a meaningless game against Tennessee.