Video RecapVENUE: Lucas Oil Stadium
Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Caldwell said all of the mistakes in the team's season-opening loss were correctable, but without Peyton Manning, that may be an optimistic way of viewing their situation.
The Colts look to avoid their first 0-2 start in 13 years when they host the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Indianapolis struggled in a 34-7 loss at Houston on Sunday without Manning, whose streak of 227 consecutive starts - including playoffs - came to an end.
Backup Kerry Collins completed 16 of 31 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown, but the Colts were outgained 384-236 and scored their fewest points since a meaningless season-ending 30-7 defeat at Buffalo on Jan. 3, 2010.
"Every game is a learning opportunity," said the 38-year-old Collins, who was called out of retirement by the Colts less than a month ago. "Obviously the scoreboard didn't go the way we wanted it to go, but we have an opportunity to learn from this."
While the Colts also lost their opener last year to the Texans, recovering to win the division this year will be a tougher task. Manning is expected to be out at least two months as he recovers from his third neck surgery in 19 months.
Caldwell said he never considered using third-stringer Curtis Painter, who did not see any action in the 2010 season.
Besides having a short time to learn the offense, Collins received little protection from an offensive line that featured rookie tackle Anthony Castonzo among three new starters. Collins was sacked three times and had just as many fumbles, two of which were recovered by the Texans and turned into touchdowns.
"It's too early to say, 'Let's pack up and go home,'" said middle linebacker Gary Brackett, who injured his left shoulder in the fourth quarter and did not return, leaving his status uncertain for Sunday. "This team has a lot of fight in it, and I think we still fought even though the score was lopsided."
The large deficit meant little chance to run the ball, but the Colts will have to be more effective on the ground going forward. They ran for 64 yards on 16 carries against the Texans, led by Joseph Addai, who had 39 yards on eight attempts.
Addai was limited to eight games by injuries last year, but was second on the team with 495 yards and four touchdowns.
The Browns look to take advantage of Manning's absence as their defense tries to make up for an untimely mental lapse that set up the go-ahead score in a 27-17 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday.
Cleveland was still in the huddle when Bruce Gradkowski threw a 41-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to take the lead. No players were running on or off the field so the play was considered legal.
"There are no excuses," first-year coach Pat Shurmur said. "If they no-huddle or quick huddle, we have to get out there and cover."
That play marred what had been, until that point, a good performance by the Browns' defense. Cleveland gave up 294 yards of total offense and recorded four sacks. D'Qwell Jackson had 11 tackles and two sacks.
Quarterback Colt McCoy took the blame for the loss in a shaky outing for the second-year quarterback. He completed 19 of 40 passes for 213 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The Browns converted 4 of 15 3rd-down opportunities.
"We couldn't get anything going," said McCoy, who completed 60.8 percent of his passes last year for 1,576 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions. "We certainly had our opportunities to win. ... I was a little out of sync."
Shurmur hopes that McCoy won't have to attempt 40 passes per game all the time and the Browns will look to get their run game going after the Texans rushed for 167 yards against the Colts without Arian Foster.
Cleveland averaged 3.2 yards per carry last week, rushing for 83 yards.
With Manning under center, the Colts have never lost to the Browns, winning five straight, including the most recent in 2008. Their lost loss to them was a 21-14 defeat in 1994.
