“Matt Hasselbeck, other aging stars come to Colts' rescue against Texans…”

HOUSTON – Mediocrity and age. These are the faded bus tickets to the abyss in professional football. And for much of this season the Indianapolis Colts have been sputtering across America, seemingly headed on a tour to the middle region of the NFL standings. Right into this week: WithMatt Hasselbeck, a 40-year-old quarterback whose roster elevation was a worst-case scenario; toAndre Johnson, a 34-year-old wideout who was buckling under the weight of his own name; to Frank Gore, the 32-year-old running back whose predicted demise has stretched on for a decade.

You're not supposed to build a franchise with pieces like this. You're most certainly not supposed to win by counting on them. But here we are, with the Andrew Luck-less Colts suddenly on a two-game winning streak without their young superstar quarterback. And coming out of Thursday boasting a gritty 27-20 win over the Houston Texans, in which every single point was scored by four guys: Hasselbeck, Johnson, Gore and 42-year old kicker Adam Vinatieri. The average age of that quartet? A spry 37.

Don't look now, but something happened on the way to the early bird special. The Colts started leaning on their graying pieces, and it has brought them unexpected life (and a perch on top of the AFC South, too).

"Fountain of youth," Colts coach Chuck Pagano joked. "[Gore and Johnson] are from Miami, so I guess you go down there and find Ponce de Leon and find the fountain of youth. I spent six years down there sipping out of that thing myself."

That's great, so long as Pagano and the rest of the team haven't shared the cup with Hasselbeck, who has been struggling with a bacterial infection that devastated his hydration since last Sunday's win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Hasselbeck became ill just before halftime of that game, then had to be taken to the hospital this week after being unable to keep himself hydrated.

"A lot of stuff coming out of the attic, and then after that, a lot of stuff coming out of the basement," Hasselbeck said, in what simultaneously managed to be the most and least obscene descriptor of his illness. "I really lost it after the [Jaguars] game."

Hasselbeck's condition remained so poor that prior to Thursday's game, he grabbed the earliest bus he could to the stadium to start taking fluids and work with the training staff on keeping himself hydrated right up to kickoff. But the trip over came after a day when coaches and friends became concerned over his continued exhaustion. So much so that Colts quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen called Hasselbeck on the bus and offered him the chance to stand down.

"He said, 'Hey, I just want you to know you don't have to do this. If you feel like you can't … we'll find a way. You don't have to do this,'" Hasselbeck recalled. "… I felt like 'Hey, I'm here for one reason. Everyone hopes it never happens, and it probably never will, but if Andrew [Luck] is not able to go, I gotta be able to go.' Here it was, and I'm sick." A few hours after that conversation, Hasselbeck was definitively the most capable quarterback on the field – a stark contrast in his age and wisdom vs. the youth and athleticism of an extremely talented (but oddly underperforming) Texans defense. With a game plan that utilized almost every area of the field at some point, the Colts balanced a sturdy run game with pass plays that often kept Hasselbeck flowing away from Houston star defensive lineman J.J. Watt. The goal was to continually keep the offense in situations that never got worse than third-and-6, largely because that down and distance still offered Hasselbeck all the throws he could handle.

And it worked with aplomb, as Gore ran for a workmanlike 98 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Meanwhile, Hasselbeck spread 18 completions to nine different players – including six for 77 yards and two touchdowns to Johnson. All of them punctuated by the game-killer: an aggressive, daring 43-yard play-action pass to T.Y. Hilton on third-and-6 from the Colts' 20-yard line. That final icing came with 1:37 left in the game and Indianapolis protecting a seven-point lead – a fact that should further galvanize exactly how much faith the Colts have in their backup. That completion took the Colts to the Houston 37-yard line, where Indianapolis knelt down to end the game.

None of this could come at a better time for Indianapolis, either. It was only two weeks ago that Pagano was seemingly on the coaching ropes and general manager Ryan Grigson was being pilloried by fans for constructing a roster with so many aging additions. All while both men were having their sometimes strained relationship dissected in all corners of NFL media. In short, 3-2 feels like a world away from 1-2.

In that vein, it's worth noting now: It was Grigson who pounced on Hasselbeck in 2013, signing him one day after he was released by the Tennessee Titans – with the firm belief that he still had something left in the tank should Luck go down. Grigson added Gore and Johnson with similar designs, hoping to bring veteran resilience to a locker room that folded badly in the AFC championship game.

And Pagano? His subtle influence might have been best seen in an anecdote he shared with the team Wednesday night – a memory of former Pittsburgh Pirates star Roberto Clemente once hitting an inside-the-park grand slam, ignoring a third base coach's pleas to stop at a triple. As Pagano told it, Clemente knew he had an opportunity to end the game, and he went for it in spite of his coach. Hasselbeck related that same story when he was talking about going for the jugular late in the fourth quarter, rather than running and punting and hoping for the best in the final 90 seconds.

"It was a gutsy call," Hasselbeck said. "… [Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton] was listening to the Roberto Clemente speech last night." So Indianapolis leaves with a gutsy win led by a gritty bunch of veterans. The critics may still look at them and see a lot of miles on the odometer. But to focus only on age is to forget a reality amongst many NFL players: for the ones that have made it into the improbable double digits in league tenure, "old" is never whatever age they actually are. "Old" is always a little older, always a little further down the road.As Andre Johnson put it, "Once you get over 30, they look at you differently. I never doubted myself. I know what I can do as a player." Now we know what the Colts can do relying on those players, too: Drive themselves out of the abyss without the best player on their roster.