HOUSTON (AP) — A year ago at this time Andrew Luck was

at home struggling with an injured shoulder that cost him the entire season.On Saturday he wrote a happy ending to the latest chapter of his comeback season https://www.coltsfanshop.com , throwing for 222 yards and two touchdowns and the Indianapolis Colts raced out to a big lead and cruised to a 21-7 win over the Houston Texans in the wild-card game. Luck put on a show in his hometown in a stadium where he'd attended games throughout childhood and played in them since high school, throwing for 191 yards and two touchdowns before halftime to help the Colts (11-6) build a 21-0 lead.He denied feeling "at home" at NRG Stadium, but admitted to having warm feelings for the city he grew up in and where his grandparents and many friends still reside."But it's still an away stadium," he said. "It was very loud, very energetic, but fun to win, certainly."Running back Marlon Mack had 148 yards and a touchdown for Indianapolis, which advances to face the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round next weekend."We know we have an elite quarterback and we can throw it for 400 and win when we have to," Indianapolis coach Frank Reich said."But the margin for error in playoff football when you try to do it that way is very thin. When you can win like this — running the football and stopping it — that's just everything."Houston (11-6), which overcame a 0-3 start to win the AFC South, gave up too many big plays and couldn't get anything going on offense in the first half to fall into the huge hole.Deshaun Watson, who was sacked an NFL-leading 62 times in the regular season, was sacked three times and hit eight more times in a disappointing playoff debut. He finished with 235 yards passing with a touchdown and an interception."Just a lack of execution on our part," Watson said. "We didn't make plays. I didn't make plays. Communication was a little off. You just got to give the Colts the credit."The Colts, who opened the season 1-5 Indianapolis Colts Customized Jerseys , continued an impressive run by winning their fifth straight and for the 10th time in 11 games. Saturday was their first playoff appearance since the AFC championship game loss at New England in the "Deflategate" game in the 2014 season.It was another good game in a splendid season for Luck. He threw for 4,593 yards and 39 touchdowns in the regular season after missing all of 2017 with a shoulder injury.The Texans didn't score until rookie Keke Coutee grabbed a 6-yard touchdown pass to cap a 16-play, 89-yard drive that included a fourth-down conversion that cut it to 21-7 with about 11 minutes left.They led the NFL with nine comeback wins this season, but their attempt at a rally ended on their next possession when Watson's pass on fourth-and-10 from the Indianapolis 24 fell short with about four minutes left.Luck threw for 863 yards with six touchdowns as the teams split two meetings in the regular season. He picked up right where he left off in this one, when he found Eric Ebron on a 6-yard TD pass on their first drive. That play was set up by a 38-yard catch by T.Y. Hilton, who had 63 yards receiving on that drive."We didn't have a lot of guys that made the playoffs so the guys that made the playoffs wanted to go out there and set the tone early, try to get the crowd out of the game," Hilton said. "That's what we did."Hilton didn't have any catches on the next drive, but the Colts still drove down the field easily and made it 14-0 on a 2-yard run by Mack later in the first.Houston went for it on fourth-and-4 from the Indianapolis 45 on its second possession and Watson was intercepted by Kenny Moore II. It was his first interception since he threw two against the Redskins on Nov. 18.The Colts got to the 17 after that before J.J. Watt deflected Luck's pass and he was intercepted by Brandon Dunn. But the Texans couldn't move the ball and had to punt.Indianapolis pushed the lead to 21-0 when Luck connected with Dontrelle Inman on an 18-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter."It's very frustrating when they're able to execute and get their job done," Watt said. "We had a couple of big penalties early in the game as well. But you have to overcome it and you have to find a way to win."The Texans had a fourth-and-1 from the 9 late in the second quarter and went for it again instead of settling for a field goal. The gamble didn't pay off when Watson's pass to DeAndre Hopkins was low and bounced in front of him in the end zone.INJURIESColts: Safety Malik Hooker left in the third quarter with a foot injury. … S Mike Mitchell injured his calf in the third quarter and didn't return.Texans: Safety Justin Reid injured his ribs in the second quarter and didn't return. … Hopkins said he played most of the game with a Grade 3 AC sprain of his right shoulder after injuring it in the first half.UP NEXTColts: Travel to Kansas City where the Chiefs were 7-1 in the regular season.Texans: The Texans have some decisions to make in the offseason with defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and safety Tyrann Mathieu both becoming free agents. They might use the franchise tag to keep Clowney, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft. Leading up to last Sunday’s game between the Colts and Cowboys we took a look at a few of the critical game matchups that would help to define the outcome. After the dust had settled on the Colts’ impressive shutout win over the Cowboys, it is time to take a look back and see how those matchups played out.Pierre Desir vs Amari CooperThis first matchup, like many when you pitch a shutout, is a pretty clear and decisive victory for the Colts. Desir did a fantastic job against DeAndre Hopkins the previous week, and had a similar performance against Cooper here. It is important to note that they obviously play a lot of zone Indianapolis Colts T-Shirts , so credit goes to the entire defensive backfield for the job they did on the Cowboys receivers. Desir deserves specific mention though for consistently knocking Cooper off his routes and helping make sure he couldn’t become a significant factor in this game. He was 4 of 7 for 32 yards in the air. Considering that the prior week he had 217 yards and 3 touchdowns, that is a massive accomplishment. Removing him from the equation left the Cowboys’ offense one-dimensional and allowed the Colts to clamp down on the run game and get after Dak Prescott. This secondary has gotten better with each week, and the drafting of a couple blue chip players to add to it could make them a very unpleasant group to go against.Colts Defensive Line vs Cowboys Offensive LinePhoto by Michael Hickey/Getty ImagesThe Colts defensive line has also been heating up as the season has progressed. They had 3 sacks and 5 QB hits as a team, which is solid and served as enough of a disruption to stop drives when it counted. They limited Prescott to just 206 yards passing and an interception. What’s more, Tyquan Lewis had a sack which pushed the Cowboys back out of field goal range, keeping points off the board and ending a Cowboys drive. The area where the clear victory took place was in terms of the defensive line beating the Cowboys offensive line in terms of opening holes for the running game. While they gave up yards in between the 20s, when the ball reached the red zone, the defense clamped down tight. They limited Ezekiel Elliott to 87 yards and stuffed him on the goal line when the Cowboys went for it on 4th and 1. That kind of hard-nosed performance would typically be unthinkable against the image we have in our minds of the Cowboys’ offensive line. It was exactly the performance this team delivered.T.Y. Hilton vs Byron JonesColts.comHilton didn’t find himself matched up against Byron Jones all game. Much like Pierre Desir on the Colts side, the Cowboys play a zone scheme that doesn’t necessarily employ following receivers with their cornerbacks. Hilton had one catch in coverage against Byron Jones, but was largely matched up against Chidobe Awuzie. It wasn’t a pretty matchup for anyone covering Hilton. When you factor in that he started the day with a distinct possibility of not playing, it is remarkable that he was able to do anything at all. What he was able to do was go 5 for 8 and get 87 yards. He described himself as at about 70 percent after the game was over. If anyone doubted his toughness, this season has more than quieted that. Hilton has repeatedly played through injury and continues to be a big part of the offense.Also, his taunting penalty was totally ridiculous, but right in line with the performance we have come to expect from these officials. Eric Ebron vs Cowboys linebackersIf there was a matchup that the Colts did not win, it was this one. I wouldn’t necessarily say this win goes as a credit to the Cowboys linebackers as much as simply an offensive preference toward other players in this game. Ebron didn’t seem to be part of the game plan here anyway https://www.coltsfanshop.com/hats , but his most notable contribution to this game was in the form of that ugly drop he had. He was only targeted 3 times and had 1 catch for 8 yards. Considering the use of Hilton, Nyheim Hines, and Marlon Mack, that isn’t all that surprising to see lower numbers from Ebron. It would be disappointing if every week the same guys were getting all the looks, but that hasn’t been the way with this offense. The Cowboys have talented linebackers and it could be that Reich decided at the outset that using Ebron to challenge them wasn’t the best way to beat this team.Frank Reich vs Jason GarrettColts.comThis one is a no contest win. Frank Reich had both his offense and defense ready to go against a familiar opponent, and it was clear from the jump. Give Matt Eberflus the credit he deserves for leading his defense to a shutout, but Frank Reich is the head coach and as such, bears the weight of blame and credit when all goes to plan. His offense was able to score effective on a very good defense, moving the ball on the ground through massive holes created by the offensive line. While past years have forced the Colts to rely on Andrew Luck to do it all, Frank Reich is not having that. Last week it was the Andrew Luck and T.Y. Show. This week? Marlon Mack setting up the play action and getting guys open downfield while the defense goes to work locking up the opposing offense. This is exactly the kind of team that, if they can get it, tends to be the one you don’t want to face in January, and Frank Reich has them humming along in just such a way as to give themselves that chance.