Indianapolis Colts' Ricardo Mathews (91) looses his helmet as he tackles Houston Texans' Arian Foster (23) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
December 30, 2012 - 1:21 PM
INDIANAPOLIS - The Indianapolis Colts made Chuck Pagano a winner in his return to the sideline.
Andrew Luck threw for two touchdowns and Deji Karim swung the game with a 101-yard kickoff return in the third quarter, giving the Colts a 28-16 victory over Houston. It was Pagano's first game back as coach since starting treatment for leukemia Sept. 26.
Indianapolis (11-5) heads into the playoffs as the No. 5 seed and on a roll.
Slumping Houston (12-4) won't know its playoff seed until later Sunday. The Texans lost three of their last four games, and J.J. Watt failed to break Michael Strahan's single-season sacks record.
The game swung on two big plays: Karim's kickoff return, which wiped out a 16-14 Houston lead, and Luck's 70-yard TD pass to T.Y. Hilton.
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News from © The Associated Press, 2012