Woody Marks — Week 3: Five Carries, the Tying Touchdown

16 to 10, Colts, two minutes left in the fourth quarter, second and four at the Indianapolis six. With an extra player reported as eligible, Woody Marks went off left tackle for five yards to the one. +1.1 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 7.9 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. Indianapolis called timeout. On first and goal with a minute 50 left, Marks went off right tackle for the touchdown that tied it at 16, and the extra point put Houston ahead 17 to 16 with a minute 48 to go. The Colts kicked a 53-yard field goal with 21 seconds left to win it.

The drive had started with Marks too. First and 10 at the Houston 46 with four 40 left, the snap after Houston recovered a Daniel Jones fumble on a sack, he ran right tackle for nine yards to the Indianapolis 45.

The line: five carries, 15 yards, one touchdown, two first downs, three of the five successful, +1.4 expected points on the carries. They went nothing, nothing, nine, five, one. The first was left end from the Houston 32 in the first quarter, the second right tackle from the 28 in the third, and the last three all came on the scoring drive. A 12-yard run to the Houston 49 in the first quarter came back on a holding call. One target, one catch, six yards, thrown four yards behind the line on second and 10 in the third. He also returned two kickoffs, 30 yards to the Houston 31 just before halftime and 22 to the 23 after Indianapolis went up 16 to seven.

Marks had five of Houston's 20 designed runs to David Montgomery's 11. But the only two Houston designed runs inside the Indianapolis 10 were his, and Montgomery did not carry on the drive that tied the game. One carry before halftime, four after.

Back in June the preview had Marks 30-second among running backs as a rookie, on steady opportunity and receiving work, and said Houston's trade for Montgomery made the split of the backfield the open question. Week 1 answered 20 carries to nine, Montgomery's way, with every carry inside the five going to Montgomery. Week 2 went eight to six the other way, with six targets on top. Sunday was 11 to five, Montgomery's way again, and yet the goal line was Marks's, and so was his first touchdown of the season and Houston's first rushing touchdown since Week 1. Three games, three different splits, 22 carries for 65 yards across them. Houston is home to the Cowboys on Sunday the fourth.

_Data via nflverse._