Winner: Old guys rule in big win for Indianapolis Colts
The Thursday Night Football game that featured the Colts and the Houston Texans was highly competitive, despite the fact that Indianapolis started 40-year old backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who had just spent the previous days in the E.R. fighting an infection.
The Colts came out on top, 27-20, which was Hasselebeck’s second win in a row for the team. This also made Hasselbeck the first 40-year old quarterback to win back-to-back games since 2010 when Brett Favre accomplished this milestone playing with the Minnesota Vikings.
Additionally, Hasselbeck managed to blow past Hall of Famers Steve Young, Troy Aikman and Kurt Warner in career passing yards, which is an amazing accomplishment.
Speaking of old guys, Hasselbeck’s two touchdown passes were caught by 34-year old All-Pro receiver Andre Johnson, who had been mostly invisible until Thursday night’s breakout performance. He had six catches for 77 yards and the two big scores.
Additionally, 32-year old running back Frank Gore scored a rushing touchdown in Thursday’s game. Gore posted 98 yards at a pace of 4.45 yards per attempt — his best game since joining the Colts.
Lastly, we must not forget about the oldest kicker in the NFL, 42-year old Adam Vinatieri, who went two-for-two in field goals, sailing the football through the uprights for 48-yard and 42-yard field goals.
The Colts were constantly under pressure to score with Houston right on their tail for nearly the entire game. Every score the Colts made was accomplished by players 32 years of age and older — not so shabby for a bunch of “older” dudes.