1. What happened on Richardson's interception late in the second quarter.

The Colts took over possession in a 10-10 game with one minute to go in the second quarter and the ball on their own five-yard line, and Steichen opted to aggressively try to grab points before halftime.

That approach resulted in a Matt Gay field goal to end the first half last week against the Miami Dolphins; Richardson drove the Colts 36 yards on four plays over 22 seconds to get those three points.

On Sunday, the Colts began their possession with a handoff to running back Jonathan Taylor that gained seven yards. Richardson's pass intended for Michael Pittman Jr. on second-and-three was nearly picked off by cornerback Kamari Lassiter.

On third-and-three, the Colts were looking for the Texans to come out in a certain defense against their empty backfield; they didn't get that look, so Richardson killed the play that was called and checked to something else. Houston played zone defense and Richardson tried to rip a throw to Downs. Safety Jalen Pitre jumped the throw and picked it off, giving Houston the ball on the Colts' seven-yard line with 23 seconds left before halftime.

"I thought I was able to fit it in there, but (Pitre) did a good job jumping under it," Richardson said. "So got to give him props."

The result, of course, was not what the Colts needed – the Texans took a 17-10 lead because of it, and Houston never tied or trailed again the rest of the game. But Steichen is committed to being aggressive in those moments, and on Monday did not second-guess his thought process.

"In that situation, it was a minute left, they had all three timeouts and so we started off with the run, see if we could pop it there and get some yardage, and we did," Steichen said. "So we said hey, let's kind of be aggressive a little bit and go for it. And obviously we didn't convert the second down pass, and then it was third down there in that situation and we thought we could get a play there and complete a pass, and it didn't work out."

2. Left tackle Bernhard Raimann is in the concussion protocol.

Steichen said Raimann, the Colts' starting left tackle, came in Monday morning with symptoms and entered the NFL's concussion protocol. That doesn't mean Raimann will or will not play Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings – it's too early in the week, and concussion recovery is not always predictable – but it is notable given the Colts' upcoming opponent.

The Vikings enter Week 9 with an 18 percent knockdown rate (sacks + QB hits/dropbacks), fourth-highest in the NFL, and defensive coordinator Brian Flores has called a blitz on 50.8 percent of Minnesota's defensive snaps, the highest rate in the league.

If Raimann's symptoms don't subside and he cannot clear protocol, look for third-round rookie Matt Goncalves or 2023 fourth-round pick Blake Freeland to get the nod at left tackle.

Raimann in 2024 has the ninth-best Pro Football Focus overall grade (81.9) among offensive tackles, and he's one of 10 tackles to play at least 320 snaps and be penalized no more than once.

3. There were bright spots for the Colts' offense in the second half.

The Colts took over possession down, 23-13, with 12:21 left in the game – and Richardson put together his best drive of the afternoon.

Richardson completed passes to Pittman for 16 yards and Downs for 13 yards to move the Colts into Texans territory, then facing a third-and-six at the Houston 36-yard line, Richardson ripped a throw over the middle to wide receiver Alec Pierce for an 11-yard gain.

Richardson then took shots at the end zone on the next three plays. The first, intended for Pittman, was broken up by cornerback Kamari Lassiter. On the second, running back Tyler Goodson flashed open in the end zone but dropped Richardson's on-target pass.

Then, on the third, Richardson connected with wide receiver Josh Downs, with the play initially ruled a touchdown (upon review, the ball was placed at the one-yard line). The Colts worked on that play during practice this week, and Richardson's primary read was Pierce – who ran a post, but safety Calen Bullock stayed home, taking away the read. Instead, Downs quickly got open against press-man coverage, Richardson got off Pierce and ripped a throw to Downs, who made a spectacular catch while falling to the ground.

That drive completed a possession stretch to begin the second half in which Richardson completed seven of 11 passes for 80 yards, while running back Jonathan Taylor rushed 11 times for 69 yards (6.3 yards/attempt) and Richardson generated 22 yards on four rushes, one of which was an option pitch to Downs that gained 13 yards (which were credited to Downs).

Richardson on those possessions completed all six of his passes that either went behind the line of scrimmage or traveled between 1-19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage (short/intermediate throws); he was one of seven on those attempts in the first half, including his interception.

The Colts are "evaluating everything" regarding Richardson as their starting quarterback, including how if he does continue as QB they can make things easier for him, leading to the sort of efficiency he showed on these three drives.

"We're dissecting everything and we're evaluating everything," Steichen said. "Running the ball better, putting him in simpler positions, getting the ball out of his hands quicker so he's not dropping back, sitting back there. We're constantly evaluating that. But we gotta be better there."

Part of this second-half stretch, though, was Richardson tapping out of the game for a third-and-goal play from the 23-yard line. Richardson said Sunday he was "tired," leading him to remove himself for the play; on Monday, both Steichen and center Ryan Kelly said they had conversations with Richardson about his decision.

"I think he knows that's not the standard he needs to play up to and the rest of the team holds him to, and I'll leave the conversation that we had at that," Kelly said. "I'm sure he's gonna take criticism for that, rightfully so. That's a tough, tough look. But also he's out there giving it his all for his team, and it's not always pretty sometimes. You know, an offensive lull the last couple weeks, having a hard time getting going at times. I thought we did some good things in the game, but if anyone ever questions how hard he plays, I don't think that's the case. If you watch his film, surely we didn't nmove the ball effectively at times, but he's giving it everything for his teammates. He's young. I'm sure it's a learning moment for him, and leave it at that."

4. A quick thought on Josh Downs' 69-yard touchdown.

Downs flashed wide open – wide open – on the front side of a scissors concept, with Pitre colliding with wide receiver Alec Pierce about 12 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Downs kept working into space toward the far sideline and caught Richardson's floating pass about 30 yards downfield, then accelerated the last 40 yards to beat Bullock to the end zone.

It looked easy, but Richardson had to deliver the pass with pressure from defensive tackle Folorunso Fatukasi in his face. And Downs, of course, still had to catch the ball even as it floated in the air for what felt like an eternity.

"You just gotta be focused," Downs said. "Those are the focus drops you can do — like, I'm so open, I know if I'm going to catch it I'm going to score. So yeah, you gotta lock in and then do what you've been practicing."

5. DeForest Buckner returned, Gus Bradley got creative and the Colts generated plenty of pressure up front.

The Colts pressured Stroud on 18 of his 40 drop backs, and held the Texans' quarterback to seven completions on 16 attempts for 86 yards with two sacks on those pressures.

Defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo was a menace all afternoon, with a sack of Stroud in the first quarter after he ripped past left guard Kenyon Green to smother Stroud.

The Colts' second sack came when defensive end Laiatu Latu's pressure forced Stroud to step up a rapidly-deteriorating pocket, where defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was closing fast for a sack.

The Colts totaled seven QB hits – three by Odeyingbo, two by Buckner and one from Latu and defensive ends Kwity Paye and Adam Gotsis.

"We were able to get some hits, obviously a couple sacks," Buckner said. "Obviously we want to get that number up, but when we needed to make some plays and have some big time stops we were able to do it because of those pressures that we had."

Notably, the Colts sent blitzes on 16 of Stroud's dropbacks, and both sacks came when the Colts blitzed. Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley threw some funky looks at Stroud, with Latu and defensive end Kwity Paye both dropping into coverage at points. Linebackers Zaire Franklin and EJ Speed were mugged up over the A-gap on a season-high eight plays, too, with one or both of them blitzing and/or dropping into coverage (Franklin rushed Stroud on nine blitzes, while Speed blitzed six times). Cornerback Kenny Moore II blitzed three times, while safeties Nick Cross and Julian Blackmon each blitzed once.