The Indianapolis Colts are coming off a disappointing tie against the Houston Texans in Week 1 in which they were favored by seven points against a notoriously weak Texans squad.

The Colts found themselves down 20-3 in this matchup, but managed to climb all the way back with 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime. The Colts had nothing going in overtime and kicker Rodrigo Blankenship missed a 42 yard field goal that would have won the game. The Colts waived the kicker on Tuesday after his performance. 

A tie is disappointing no matter how you look at it. The Colts should have won that game and it was the wrong foot to start off on this season.

Nyheim Hines, backup running back for the Colts, emphasized the difficult nature of a tie in a Pro Football Talk article.

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“Last year we didn’t make the playoffs with Pittsburgh and a tie,” Nyheim Hines said. “So right now, a tie is a good thing or a bad thing depending how we use it, but I remember last year a tie was one of the reasons we didn’t make the playoffs. So for Pittsburgh last year it was a great thing. Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that, but with a tie, we are going to focus on the positives. We have negatives to get better on, but obviously we are going to focus on the things that we did well last week.”

It's all about how the Colts build off the tie in Week 2 that will set the tone for the rest of the season. They will  travel to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars in Week 2, which should be a great place to get their first win of the season. Jacksonville was infamously the site where Indy's playoff hopes were dashed in the 2021 NFL season. They astonishingly lost to the Jaguars in Week 18, missing the playoffs, in what should have been an easy win for the Colts. Can the Colts alter the narrative and build off this tie? Or will they falter and let Week 1 diminish their chances for a solid season?