EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Look out. The Indianapolis Colts are peaking at the right time.
The Colts moved into a tie with Houston and Tennessee atop the AFC South after beating the lowly New York Jets 41-10 on Monday Night Football. Indianapolis is 3-1 over its past four games.
"This is when you want to get hot going toward the end of the season," Colts cornerback Darius Butler said. "It’s kind of playoff football for us, being in the position we’re in. There’s no better time to get hot than now."
The Colts have turned things around after stumbling to losses earlier this season, at a time when making the playoffs seemed unlikely.
The Colts and the Texans, who have dropped three straight games, play Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Colts would be in first place in the division with a win over Houston, because they'd have swept the season series with Tennessee.
"We've always felt like we control our own destiny," Colts quarterback Andrew Luck said. "If we do something bad, there's no one to point the finger at but us. It we do something good, then it's 'OK, great.' Then it's on to the next one. We know how important the next game is."
Finding a way to win the AFC South will salvage what was a horrendous start to the season for the Colts. They blew late fourth-quarter leads in losses to Detroit and Houston, and they waited too long to get going against Jacksonville in London. Indianapolis (6-6) has yet to be above .500 this season.
But now they're in position to make the playoffs as long as they take care of their business in the final four games, only one of which is against a team with a winning record.
The Colts seemed to gamble by deciding to hold off on having their bye until Week 10 instead of right after the Week 4 London game. But they won their Week 5 game, and they have fresher legs for this stretch run.
Indianapolis played arguably its best three quarters of football in the Luck era during the first 30 minutes of Monday's game.
Luck was near perfect, going 15-of-18 for 193 yards with three touchdowns, and the Colts had 268 yards of total offense while going 3-of-5 on third down to jump ahead 24-3. Dwayne Allen became the first Colts tight end to have three receiving touchdowns in a game since Dallas Clark did it in 2009.
Things went so well for the Colts that coach Chuck Pagano was able to sit Luck, who returned after missing a game with a concussion, for all but one snap of the fourth quarter after they went up 41-3. Luck finished 22-of-28 for 278 yards with four touchdowns and only one sack. He completed all six of his pass attempts that traveled more than 10 yards down the field, according to data tracking by ESPN Stats & Information.
"He played extremely well," Pagano said. "We know he's a talented guy, but it goes back to his preparation, and he does a great job week in and week out, and he does not like to not be available for his teammates."
The offense will lead the way. All the defense has to do is make sure it keeps the game manageable and not force the offense to have to score 30-plus points to pull out a victory on a weekly basis. The Colts intercepted Jets quarterbacks Ryan Fitzpatrick and Bryce Petty three times, which matched the number of interceptions they had on the season entering the game.
"[The defense] did an incredible job," Luck said. "When you're plus-three [in turnovers] in a game, you've got a chance to win. You really have a great chance to win."
Colts punter Pat McAfee said last week that they're capable of going on a run with Luck.
Everybody is about to see if that's true.
"I think it takes consistency in this league," Allen said. "In the years prior we’ve had games where we play really hot and played really low. If we’re hitting our stride, it’ll definitely show this weekend [against the Texans]."