Quarterback Matt Ryan made his Colts debut on Sunday.
The game did not go as expected.
While Indianapolis had a chance to defeat Houston, the game ended up in a 20-20 tie, putting the Colts at 0-0-1 to begin the Ryan era.
"[I]t’s the first time for a tie in the NFL, so it’s strange. It was a weird game,” Ryan said in his postgame press conference. “Obviously, a lot of mistakes in the first half, really the first three quarters. Then we got rolling in the fourth. You’re disappointed to not come out of here with a win. At the same time, we didn’t lose, and we’ve got to find a way to tighten things up.
“But the effort across the board to me is encouraging. I think if we play with that kind of intensity, clean up some of these mistakes, and just execute a little bit better, there’s a lot of things we can build on.”
Ryan finished the game 32-of-50 passing for 352 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Colts scored a field goal on their second possession and then didn’t score again until the fourth quarter.
Kicker Rodrigo Blankenship missed a 42-yard field goal in overtime that would have won it for Indianapolis.
“I think if we can clean things up, tighten things up a little bit, we’re going to be just fine,” Ryan said. “But we need to tighten them up. There has to be a sense of urgency to get that done. This is a good example for us of, it needs to be right. It needs to be right from the start. Coming back at the end, giving ourselves a chance, that’s great, but all of the plays matter. We’ve got to be sharp from the start.”