The Indianapolis Colts walloped the Houston Texans 31-0 Sunday afternoon at NRG Stadium.
In the midst of the shutout, linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill etched his name into the franchise record books with a career-high 19 combined tackles. The previous record was 17 set by three different players on four different occasions, the last being linebacker Tyrell Adams on Nov. 26, 2020, in a 41-25 win over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving.
Grugier-Hill was fixated on the loss to the Colts that sent Houston to 2-10, marking their second straight year of double-digit losses, a feat not seen since 2005-06.
“It’s an honor; I can’t lie,” Grugier-Hill said. “My whole career I’ve been pigeonholed as a good special teamer, come in on core downs. And to have this accomplishment, like in this franchise, a place I want to be, just prove to everyone that I can be a real starter, real player in this league, a legit player. It’s definitely an honor.”
Grugier-Hill’s previous career high was 12 combined tackles, which he set against the Tennessee Titans in Week 11, a 22-13 win at Nissan Stadium. That career-high came in a victory. Grugier-Hill’s new personal best came in a loss, which overshadows the accomplishment for the linebacker.
Said Grugier-Hill: “We didn’t win so it doesn’t mean much, but you can’t celebrate too many individual victories when we have a record like this, which sucks. But it’s an honor.”
The Colts also scored 31 points on Houston’s defense in Week 6 when Indianapolis rolled over the Texans 31-3 at Lucas Oil Stadium.