Colts give Chuck Pagano a victory in his return to sideline

INDIANAPOLIS -- Chuck Pagano savored every moment of yesterday's postgame celebration.

He took his customary linebacker stance on the sideline, hands on bended knees. He signaled touchdowns when the Colts scored, patted Deji Karim on the helmet after a 101-yard kickoff return for a game-changing touchdown, and gestured for penalty flags to be thrown.

And after Indianapolis beat AFC South champion Houston, 28-16, Pagano began jumping around with players, assistant coaches and even team owner Jim Irsay like he was a kid again.

Why not? "There was a lot of high-fiving, a lot of dancing, a lot of hugging going on and a lot of celebrating," an emotional Pagano said. "There's a lot to celebrate right now."

The Colts (11-5) are the No. 5 seed and will play at Baltimore in the wild-card round next weekend. The Texans (12-4), who lost three of their last four, dropped to the third seed and will host Cincinnati.

Pagano took an indefinite leave Sept. 26 to begin the first of three rounds of chemotherapy for leukemia and didn't make it back to the sideline until yesterday when the cancer was in complete remission.

When Pagano first walked onto the field, he waved to the fans and hugged his wife, Tina.

When fans gave him a standing ovation after a one-minute video played on the stadium's two Jumbotrons just before kickoff, a choked-up Pagano held his tears in check.

When he left the field, he hugged everybody in sight. Irsay presented him with a game ball in the locker room.

"Guys really did not want to lose in his first game back and heading into the playoffs," rookie quarterback Andrew Luck said. "To get a win, I think means the world to him."

Luck was 14 of 28 for 191 yards with two more touchdowns and no INTs. He broke Peyton Manning's franchise record for completions by a rookie but fell 15 short of Sam Bradford's NFL mark. And Indy completed the second-greatest turnaround in league history, winning nine more games than it did in 2011.