INDIANAPOLIS -- Ten thoughts on the Colts' 23-19 loss to the Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium to fall to 9-8 to end their season:

Texans had their franchise quarterback, Colts didn't

1. Well, this game found a way to live up to the billing. Two 9-7 teams that far exceeded expectations under first-year coaches descended into a prime-time matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium with a playoff spot on the line, and we got to see some of the elements that made both what they are -- the flaws, the strengths and the resilience. These were supremely evenly matched teams.

The difference, ultimately, is that the Texans had a franchise quarterback available and the Colts have one on the sideline healing from an AC joint sprain in his shoulder. C.J. Stroud was explosive at times and safe and crafty in others, showing a pulse for the moment and the ability to use his legs and his arm to get the big conversions when the Texans needed them.

Gardner Minshew, for as much as he offered this season as a trusted veteran and a player who improved within himself as the year went on, was not quite built for the moment. Stroud finished 20 of 26 for 264 yards and two touchdowns. Minshew went 13 of 24 for 141 yards and no scores.

In a passing league, the answers are kind of evident sometimes.

2. Shane Steichen bet everything on that fourth-down call, using one of the timeouts he'd need to get the ball back. But this is a man hired for his play designs, and he had one dialed up -- in theory.

He brought Tyler Goodson in the game at running back and called for a quick wheel route. It was wide open. Minshew had all the time he needed, but he lofted it too far to the outside, and a spinning Goodson couldn't come down with a catch off his fingertips.

I think this is a moment where Steichen overthought some things. Yes, the defense gave the look to indicate that the play would be open. But it was also asking two backups to connect on a pass play they've never run in a game before. With the season on the line, the mindset needs to be more about players than plays, and Steichen left Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs and Zack Moss out of the equation and bet on an immensely struggling quarterback and a fourth-string running back to make it happen.

It's not the way I would have bowed out on a season.

3. C.J. Stroud's opening bomb is what I feared about this matchup for the Colts. He went play-action and deep on a post to Nico Collins against JuJu Brents, which exposed a few leaks in this defensive structure. It took the teeth out of the pass rush, creating a hitch for DeForest Buckner to finally get home when it was too late. And it exposed a rookie cornerback who is built to be physical in press coverage rather than to live that far down the field.

Game recap: Colts fall to Texans in winner-take-all season finale

The result was a 75-yard touchdown. It's the type of explosiveness one team can dial up right now and the other can't, because it has its top-five pick at quarterback and the other doesn't. But hold out hope that this element of the Colts' offense can arrive when Anthony Richardson returns, and that cannon can blend with Alec Pierce's deep speed to be the kind of answer you can pull out of a hat with a single play call.

Vintage Jonathan Taylor

4. Finally, finally, finally, we have vintage Jonathan Taylor back. The man who owns the Texans did it yet again, despite the fact that Demeco Ryans' defense has shut down basically every running game since Zack Moss had a day against them in Week 2. Taylor ripped off a 45-yard untouched score down the left side and a number of gorgeously patient runs with strong finishes through contact. He looked a mix of healthy and fresh and confident, almost as if that time off paid off.

Taylor had 21 carries for 165 yards and a touchdown at the point when he left with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter. That's the other side of the coin with Taylor right now, as injuries have become much of his story the past two years after that league-leading 332-carry season when he won the rushing title in 2021.

But props to Taylor for gutting it out for that final drive, even after the Colts ruled him doubtful to return.

5. This wasn't a day for too much defensive playmaking from the Colts, as the Texans don't really commit turnovers, and safety Julian Blackmon's absence loomed large in forcing those errors. But I thought the best defensive play they dialed up with Ronnie Harrison's sack in the fourth quarter, when he timed it up from depth at the safety spot to totally surprise the Texans offensive line and crash Stroud down before he had a chance to come up with an alternative.

Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley has been criticized for not blitzing enough this year. I think his general approach has been sound, as you tend to blitz when your coverage is great and not when it's leaky and super young. But he also could use some better disguises and timed blitzes with players with strong skill sets such as E.J. Speed, Kenny Moore II and Harrison. This was one of those plays where it can show a pay-off, but it needs to be kept in low volume against good quarterbacks.

6. One player I thought should have gotten an alternate Pro Bowl spot and didn't is Blackmon. I don't know that he's gotten the publicity he deserves, here or nationally, for leading this team with four interceptions while also settling the back end in coverage and in run defense.

But boy, did the Colts miss him early on in this game. They left JuJu Brents on an island deep against Nico Collins on the opening snap, and they lost track of Texans fullback Andrew Beck on a 2-yard touchdown pass, even though he was lined up as a wide receiver. Relative to this young secondary, Blackmon is chock full of experience and is also the vocal force they need at the strong safety position in this defensive scheme in order to diversify their coverage approaches away from straight Cover-3.

He should be a priority free agent signing this offseason, especially if the Colts plan to continue to grow these young defensive backs around that position.

7. This game turned a couple times, all with the Colts' run game. The 45-yard Taylor run pulled the Colts right back into a back-and-forth fight in which they had a weapon the Texans could not stop. But then the losses of Taylor to an ankle injury and Braden Smith to a knee injury brought them back to mortality.

Those two have really been key to the Colts' run game all season without Anthony Richardson in the backfield to manipulate the numbers. When they've hummed, it's involved one or both of them. When they've frozen, it's often been with both out. It goes to show why the Colts extended these two players, and it's exciting to think of what they could combine to do with Richardson -- if they can stay healthy.

Punter Rigoberto Sanchez has a big game

8. Another player who hasn't gotten much of a mention for a really strong season is Rigoberto Sanchez. He really boomed them in this game, which was the type of close matchup where the kicking game shows up. His 63-yard boot in the first half was one of his best of the season, though the coverage didn't deliver on the play.

Sanchez is a free agent, and the way he's steadily recovered from the Achilles tear a year ago should make him a pretty easy resigning for a special teams unit that needs some stability. Outside of Matt Gay and Sanchez, it's been a year of bad coverage units, poor blocking and penalties.

He also has a great recovery story that I got to spend this week diving into. If you haven't given it a read, I hope you will now.

MORE: Before Rigoberto Sanchez could punt again, he and his daughter had to learn to walk

Shane Steichen vs. Demeco Ryans

9. This was a fascinating coaching matchup between Shane Steichen and Demeco Ryans. It's two first-year, first-time head coaches who have taken teams picking in the top five of the draft to within a win of the playoffs. They're also the inverse of the other, with Steichen creatively lifting an injury-riddled offense to a top-10 mark in scoring and Ryans developing a young defense into a playoff-level force down the stretch of the season.

Both teams were juiced and resilient in their own ways, and I have a feeling we'll see this battle in big AFC South games for years to come. It'll be Steichen vs. Ryans and Richardson vs. Stroud.

10. And that, ultimately, should be the takeaway from this Colts season. They wildly over-performed expectations with a backup quarterback and a first-year head coach despite a number of injuries. The schedule certainly helped at times, but good teams figure it out, and this one proved to be a good team. It just wasn't a great team in the end. It can be with Richardson.

I don't think this was Steichen's best game, but he had a great year to propel this team to 9-8 despite the limitations of personnel and availability. Give him Richardson and Taylor for most of a season, and I think we'll see that creativity shine in a way that doesn't leave us talking about the bets he made on personnel.

The future really is bright here. And that makes the post-mortem to this season quite a bit different than the previous two.

Contact Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: 10 thoughts on a heartbreaking loss to Texans to end the season