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INDIANAPOLIS — A season that involved more than 2,000 plays came down to one Saturday evening at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Fourth-and-1 at the Houston 15-yard line, and the Texans protecting a 23-17 lead.
One minute, six seconds standing between the Indianapolis Colts and either the end of a season chock-full of adversity or the playoffs.
First-year coach Shane Steichen saw the look he wanted — the Texans in man-to-man coverage — and dialed up a Gardner Minshew II pass in the left flats to running back Tyler Goodson.
It had been repped throughout the week in practice, and worked.
But, incomplete.
Lucas Oil Stadium, a thunderdome as Minshew delivered the football behind a wide-open Goodson, became church-quiet as the running back out of the University of Iowa was unable to secure the ball.
When Houston responded by taking a safety, the Colts fell, 23-19, and were left to wonder how it all went so wrong.
How did they deal with injuries to rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson and so many others, and overcome suspensions and erratic play yet finish 9-8 when they were this close to something more?
Why was Houston moving on?
Why wasn’t running back Jonathan Taylor on the field for the most important play of the game and season? He had carried them all evening with 188 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown, on 30 carries despite briefly going to the locker room in the fourth quarter to deal with an ankle/foot injury.
In fact, Taylor had accounted for all nine of the Colts’ rushing attempts on the final 12-play drive.
“He was all right,’’ Steichen said of leaving Taylor on the sideline. “The play we had, we had the look for it . . . it just didn’t work out.
“Obviously, if it doesn’t work, you’re going to second-guess it. I understand that. It’s part of the business.’’
It was clear from talking with players in the locker room that different running backs had taken repetitions on that play during the week of practice.
But it was designed for Goodson.
“He’s a pass catcher for us out of the backfield,’’ Steichen said.
Goodson was appearing in his sixth game after spending 10 weeks on the practice squad. Prior to his This is it moment, he had 13 carries and six receptions.
The next question that begged an answer — was it a bad throw by Minshew or did Goodson flat drop it?
Yes and yes.
If the connection had worked as apparently was the case during the week, the Colts would have converted on fourth-and-the-season. Wideout Michael Pittman Jr. was in position to offer an escort up the left side.
Minshew’s throw was behind Goodson.
“I wish I had put a better ball on him. You know, given us a better chance,’’ he said. “Man, I thought it was a great call, perfect look.
“I throw it to Goody a million times over. Like, you know, it’s just one of those plays.’’
Goodson fought back tears as he addressed the media in the locker room. He shouldered the blame for the Colts’ season ending before they were ready.
“I felt like a failure,’’ he said. “I know I’m not a failure, but that’s what I felt like. I’ll never do that again.
“I worked too hard to just drop the ball like that.’’
It was mentioned that Minshew didn’t exactly give him an easy pass to catch.
“It still touched my hands,’’ Goodson said. “It’s all good. It touched my hands. Next year I won’t be in that position ever again. Ever again.’’
He mentioned the fourth-and-1 play was worked on throughout the week for just that situation.
“We’ve been repping that play all week,’’ Goodson said. “I knew that play was for me, and when we called it, it was just about making the play.
“When that ball came to me, I happened to fail today. But it’s over. A lot of the guys came up to me, ‘Keep your head up.’
“I’m just going to be me. Keep God close to me. Going to talk to my parents because those are probably the only people that are loving me right now.’’
The suddenness was numbing.
The Colts had no answers for rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and wideout Nico Collins. Stroud was 20-of-26 for 264 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yarder to Collins on the Texans’ first offensive snap. Collins finished with nine catches, 195 yards and the opening lightning bolt.
It appeared defensive lapses contributed to both passing TDs. Rookie cornerback JuJu Brents had no safety help deep on Collins’ 75-yarder and fullback Andrew Beck was wide open in the back of the end zone on his 1-yard TD as the safeties split.
Also, the Taylor-heavy offense converted just 1 of 11 third-down situations and botched its only fourth-down attempt, and Minshew was 13-of-24 for 141 yards.
Matt Gay converted 38 and 52-yard field goals, but glanced a 57-yarder off the right upright.
Yet there the Colts were. Knocking on the door in the closing minutes. All they had to do was execute a fourth-and-1 pitch-and-catch.
Taylor broke things down to their essence.
“It came down to a couple of plays,’’ he said. “That’s playoff football. Come crunch time, gotta make those plays. We gotta make those plays. Gotta make ‘em. We have to.
“Playoff teams are teams that make the most plays. We didn’t make enough.’’
They didn’t convert fourth-and-1.
“That’s the season,’’ Taylor said. “That’s it right there. There’s thousands and thousands of plays, but at the end of the day, there’s always going to be one or two that are called that we have to execute.
“We executed them in practice. We’ve got to execute them when it matters in a game.’’
Taylor was asked if he was surprised not to be on the field for the fourth-and-1.
“That was the play we called,’’ he said. “I stand by the coaches. You’ve seen what Shane has done all year. Have you really questioned his calls all year?’’
He added he “definitely’’ wanted to be on the field at the end, “but no one second-guessed Shane’s calls all year. He’s been masterpiece perfect.
“Whatever is dialed up, we feel confident in it. We rep these plays a hundred times in practice.’’
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.
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