Holding a 20-16 lead, Houston’s only chance to escape Lucas Oil Stadium with a victory was to depend on their running back to seal the game, especially since the Colts kept two timeouts with 1:40 remaining.
One might think that the Texans would rely on their eighth-year veteran, Nick Chubb, to get the job done, since he has experienced similar situations with his former team, the Cleveland Browns, but they chose a different path.
Houston went with rookie running back Woody Marks, and he sealed the game with a gritty nine-yard run on second and nine from the Texans 33 33-yard line as the Texans (7-5) won their fourth game in a row.
“You see the toughness that Woody (Marks) exhibits,” said Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans.
While Marks might have been aiming for more yards and a touchdown to turn it into a two-score game, he relied on third-year quarterback C.J. Stroud for guidance.
“I had to pull C.J. to the side and ask him, ‘If I break out, should I score or not?” said Marks, who finished the game with a workman-like performance as he finished with 64 yards on 19 carries. “He kind of gave me tips on what to do.”
When asked what he told Marks to do on that play, Stroud laughed.
“I can’t tell you,” said Stroud with a huge smile on his face.
What makes Marks, who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, so impressive is the resilience he showed in fighting through an early ankle injury he sustained in the first quarter, which required him to be taken to the locker room for further evaluation before he returned to the field.
“He did an outstanding job of just pushing through,” Ryans said about Marks overcoming the injury. “That’s what you talk about, the injuries, the getting nicked up in the game, toughing it out, coming back, battling, and wanting the football at the end of the game to close it out.
“Like you can’t say enough good things about Woody and how he’s just grown, how he’s done a great job throughout this entire year of carrying the football for us.”
Fellow rookie offensive lineman Aireontae Ersery has seen the toughness from Marks the entire season as his carries increased and he gained more trust from offensive coordinator Nick Caley, running backs coach Danny Barrett, and quarterback C.J. Stroud.
“I love Woody,” Ersery said exclusively to Big Sarge Media after the game. “Woody doesn’t say too much; he just goes in there and works, and I love people like that. He also has a fun personality. So, I am super proud of him and the way he has progressed over this season.”