Draw with Colts starts Texans' season: 'We didn't finish the way we would like'

First-year Houston Texans head coach Lovie Smith will have to wait another week for either his first win or his first loss with his third National Football League (NFL) team.

The Texans played the Indianapolis Colts to a 20-20 tie to begin the 2022 regular season at home on Sunday. It was the Texans’ first tie in franchise history, and it occurred at the start of the team’s 21st campaign in existence. 

“Battled,” their Twitter account shared postgame.

After allowing a field goal in the first quarter, the Texans took control for much of the afternoon, reeling off 20 unanswered points.

New Texans tight end O.J. Howard, who signed with Houston a week before the season opener, introduced himself to the NRG Stadium crowd by hauling in two touchdown passes from second-year quarterback Davis Mills.

The 23-year-old Mills tossed for 240 yards on 23-for-37 passing, per a report on the Texans’ website.

Houston; however, couldn’t secure the victory as the Colts stormed back in the fourth quarter to force the game into overtime, the report said.

Neither team failed to score in the additional 10 minutes thus caused the first of two battles between them to end in a draw.

"We had our opportunities,” Smith, who was promoted to his current position from defensive coordinator in February, said in the report. “We talk a lot about finishing. We didn't finish the way we would like.”

Defensively, the Texans collected two takeaways, with homegrown talent Jerry Hughes figuring prominently with an interception and a couple of sacks, per the team.

Linebacker Christian Kirksey recovered a fumble to set up Howard’s second and the Texans’ last touchdown of the day, the report said.

Oddly enough, the Texans occupy first place in the American Football Conference (AFC) South division despite the stalemate.

The Tennessee Titans and the Jacksonville Jaguars lost their respective games.

Houston and Indianapolis won’t see each other again until the final week of the season at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Up next for the Texans is a visit to Denver to face the Broncos.