CJ Stroud completed a 7-yard pass to Dalton Schultz to the Indianapolis 31-yard line in the final seconds of the first half. In field goal range, the Texans rushed to the line and slammed the ball onto the ground.

However, the referees stopped the game right at the snap to review Schultz’s catch.

The play continued, but then all hell broke loose.

Referee John Hussey announced that the clock would be reset to 15 seconds after the Texans snapped the ball with 18 seconds left on the previous down. The Colts then called a timeout to complain about the clock, at which point Hussey apparently gave the Colts their timeout back and found out that there should be a 10-second timeout.

It was confusing, and Hussey’s announcements (or lack thereof) were confusing. The TV crew didn’t clear up the mess until the second half.

“We first had to confirm that it was a catch,” Perry Fewell, senior vice president of umpires, said in a pool report. “Then we had to correct the referee. From an administrative perspective, the umpire was told to reset the clock for 15 seconds.”

“We did not reverse the call and then corrected the administrator and the clock to five seconds.”

The Texans kept their offense on the field, apparently unaware that the clock was at five seconds and that they would start on Hussey’s signal. Stroud threw an incomplete pass to end the half.

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans took responsibility in a courtside interview with CBS’ AJ Ross and again during his postgame media appearance.

“It’s just us as coaches – starting with me – communicating on the sidelines,” Ryans said, according to a team transcript.

The Colts’ timeout was listed on the NFL’s official score sheet until it was edited after the game, when the timeout and the final play of the half — Stroud’s incomplete pass — were deleted. Colts coach Shane Steichen said he had no comment when asked about it after the game.

A timeout would have meant that the clock would only be restarted when the snap occurred.

“Week 1, everybody’s rusty,” Stroud said. “I’m rusty; we’re rusty overall. I think the officials told us one thing, but we got another.”

The Texans led 12-7 at halftime, but could have taken a bigger lead as Ka’imi Fairbairn had already made field goals of 51 and 50 yards.

“I have to get better at that,” Stroud said. “That’s something we can definitely learn from.”

However, this did not matter as the Texans held on to their victory with a score of 29-27.