John Harris has 12 key notes from the Houston Texans’ road win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1.

8) Sprint Left Option for the win! Good day to get the three big receivers in the game, but the Colts couldn’t stop Nico Collins again. In the last three games against the Colts, two of them at Lucas Oil Stadium

Week 2, 2023 – 7 for 146 yards and a TD

Week 18, 2023 – 9 for 195 yards and a TD

Week 1, 2024 – 6 for 117 yards

Three games in a row against the Colts, three 100-yard performances. A total of 22 catches for 458 yards and two touchdowns. Just incredible. And then there’s the catch on 3rd-and-11 on the last drive. Are you serious? He and CJ Stroud have been in sync all training camp and that’s what that finish was all about. I thought the same as some Texans fans – Nico is going to be the TY Hilton for the Colts, like TY has always been for us.

9) Oh, okay, let me get to this. The Colts have a ceremonial anvil hammer guy that starts every game. So the Colts brought Hilton in on Sunday to do that. He hit the anvil like once, twice, three times and then started extending his arms toward the crowd. Then he turned around… AND PUT ON THE DAMN CLOWN MASK. Then the Texans mostly screwed the Colts.

10) Throughout the offseason, so many people asked me about the defensive interior. Some of the adoring fans got mad at me like I MADE the decisions. “YOU DIDN’T DO ENOUGH, JOHN!” I mean, seriously, that’s how many fans talked to me about it. But as training camp went on, I kept seeing Folorunso Fatukasi and Mario Edwards Jr. make play after play. As much as I tried to tell people not to panic, that this IDL group was better than expected, I just got pushback everywhere. OK, what now? Sure, it’s one play, but both sacks came from those two interior linemen. They both had a TFL. They both had a sack. They both had a QB hurry, the only two that day. Look, it may not be perfect, but now believe what it can be?

11) How good was No. 7 on Sunday? The throw to Nico across the field on third down in the third quarter. The throw to Nico on third down late in the fourth quarter. Points and dimes all day. How about the throw to Brevin Jordan off Stroud’s knees in the first quarter. He was under pressure with three sacks the entire first half but only had one in the second half. Even under that pressure, he just made one crucial throw after another. Just ridiculous and we are so lucky to have that guy at quarterback and leading this team.

12) Speaking of decisive, how about Kai’mi Fairbairn? Not one, not two, but three 50-yard field goals in the opening game. INCREDIBLY decisive! ESPN superstar Adam Schefter tweeted/posted later in the day that Fairbairn and Rice University graduate Chris Boswell became the first two kickers in NFL history to make THREE 50-yard field goals in a regular season opening game. Additionally, Schefter noted that it was the first time multiple kickers made three 50-yard field goals in the same week. History, baby! And it could have been FOUR for Kai’mi if the end of the half hadn’t been so shaky.

OK, that’s it for Harris Hits from the first look at this game. I’ll be watching the game tape again and will have more thoughts on All-Access Radio this week as well. See you then, everyone!