The Associated Press
HOUSTON—Indianapolis coach Chuck Pagano isn’t sure when Andrew Luck can play again.
Not to worry, though. He’s got the ageless Matt Hasselbeck to fill in.
Andre Johnson caught two touchdown passes from the 40-year-old Hasselbeck, the second for two yards in the fourth quarter, to help the Colts beat the Houston Texans 27-20 last night.
“Got the best back-up in the league right now,” Pagano noted.
“We could argue that.”
Released by Houston in March after 12 seasons with the team, Johnson had six catches for 77 yards.
Hasselbeck, meanwhile, won his second-straight game filling in for Luck, who was out with a shoulder injury.
Hasselbeck’s performance was even more impressive given the fact he was battling a bacterial infection that hospitalized him this week.
He started feeling ill just before halftime Sunday in a victory over Jacksonville and didn’t start feeling better until last night.
“I honestly feel like this isn’t even real right now,” Hasselbeck admitted.
Pagano raved about Hasselbeck.
“He was literally on his deathbed Monday/Tuesday and mustered up enough to come in Wednesday and practice,” Pagano said.
“He was getting IVs and fighting a virus, and the grittiest performance I’ve seen in a long, long time.”
Brian Hoyer, who replaced Ryan Mallett for Houston (1-4) in the second quarter, threw a pass up for grabs that was intercepted by Mike Adams with less than two minutes left to help the Colts (3-2) seal the victory.
The Colts also extended their AFC South winning streak to an NFL-record 16 games.
Johnson extended the lead to 27-17 with the two-yard reception with about 10-and-a-half minutes left.
The Texans had intercepted Hasselbeck’s pass in the end zone earlier in that drive, but the play was negated because of defensive holding on Eddie Pleasant.
Mallett got the wind knocked out of him on an illegal hit midway through the second quarter and was replaced by Hoyer.
Mallett looked to be OK soon after that but coach Bill O’Brien stuck with Hoyer.
He finished with 312 yards passing with two touchdowns.
Both of the touchdowns were to rookie Jaelen Strong—and they came on his first two NFL receptions.
