INDIANAPOLIS – It didn’t work for a lot of reasons, for too many reasons, for so many reasons. The play call wasn’t good. The execution wasn’t crisp. The sequence of events wasn’t terribly smart. Oh, let’s be honest: The sequence of events was stupid. The Indianapolis Colts lost 37-34 to the Houston Texans on Sunday because what they tried to do in the final seconds of overtime, and the way they tried to do it, was stupid.

Awesome, wasn’t it?

No, I'm serious: This was a Colts franchise that for so many years had been gutless morphing Sunday into something fearless. Brainless? Yeah, on that particular play, maybe. They could have done something smarter, safer, and punted late in overtime and tied the Texans. And had it gone down that way, had Colts coach Frank Reich punted for the tie, rookie running back Nyheim Hines would have reacted like so:

“A tie?” Hines said. “I’d be like, ‘Bro, really?’”

But that's not what happened. This is: Reich went for the win, a tie became a loss, and the locker room reacted like this:

“Loved it,” said quarterback Andrew Luck, who was unable to make the pivotal throw at the tail end of a game I’d suggest is the best he’s ever played, for reasons I’ll defend in a minute. “We’re not playing for a tie. Everyone in that locker room frickin’ loves it. That’s an attitude we can get behind.”

“Love it,” said receiver Chester Rogers, who was unable to get open on the final route of what had been a career game himself, with a personal-best eight catches for 85 yards and a two-point conversion. “Let’s go out and win. Let’s not play for a tie.”

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And how about the man himself, the goat, the guy who made the decision and set in motion the screwed-up sequence that more than anything led to this loss? What does Frank Reich have to say?

“We’re not playing to tie,” he said. “We’re going for it 10 times out of 10. That’s just the way it’s got to roll.”

Look, this is the kind of professional sports franchise we want in this city. That ought to be what you want to support, and it’s absolutely what I want to watch and write about. Did it work? Well, point of fact, no. It did not work. The scoreboard shows what it shows, and it shows the Texans with 37 points and the Colts with 34, and if life were as simple as some people like to make it, if this were a zero-sum existence we’re all living, then you should be furious with the Colts and I should be mocking them.

You, don’t do it. And me? I can’t. The Colts didn’t go into Sunday’s game, and then deep into overtime, playing for this season. They’re not trying to position themselves for a 2018 NFL postseason spot. I mean, I don’t think they are. The AFC South is less impressive than it was a year ago, and somebody has to win, in theory even the Colts, but with a 1-2 record through three games, this franchise didn’t find itself late Sunday afternoon playing for playoff position.

The Colts are playing for something more lasting – more important, even – than that: They’re playing for their identity. They’re playing for their future. These are the foundational games under a reconstructed coaching staff and a quarterback with a reconstructed shoulder, and who the Colts are today will echo into tomorrow. Who do they want to be today? A team too timid to try to beat the winless Houston Texans at home? The Colts lost, but they did not blink. Does it seem like I love what they did? Good. I do.

Now then, about how they did it …

Ugh.

Fourth-and-4 at their own 44-yard line. Just 27 seconds left in overtime. The Texans have no timeouts. Punt it there – hell, shank it out of bounds, putting the Texans inside their own 30 with about 20 seconds left – and the game is over. Houston can’t win. The Colts can’t lose.

Reich leaves the offense on the field. They line up. Luck is bobbing his head and barking his signals. He’s trying to draw the Texans offsides, everyone knows it, and it doesn’t work. The Colts have two timeouts left. Rather than draw a delay-of-game penalty, they use one of them. Here comes the punt team onto the field … wait, what’s this?

Here comes the offense, back onto the field.

Is Reich trying to draw Houston offsides a second time? Yeah, maybe so. Hey, what’s the down side? Not like he’s going to snap the ball on his half of midfield, opening the door to the only way the Colts could actually lose this game …

Oh. That’s what Reich did. He had Luck throw a pass to Rogers for the first down, and Houston cornerback Johnathan Joseph isn’t having it. He parks himself at the 47, the yard line the Colts need to reach, and dares Rogers to go past him. But Rogers won’t. He can’t. He runs to the sticks, turns around and tries to catch a pass with Joseph draped all over him. Joseph breaks it up.

Houston ball. One Deshaun Watson-to-DeAndre Hopkins pass for 24 yards. One spike to stop the clock. One 37-yard field goal at the horn.

Another loss for the Colts.

And Reich knows he screwed up. He knows. Not the call, but the timing. He didn’t stand at the podium afterward and try to convince you the sky is red, up is down and stupid is smart. No, he all but conceded afterward, it was stupid, the way the Colts tried to beat the Texans on Sunday.

He was asked: Why not go for it the first time, rather than trying to draw off the Texans and wasting a timeout you’ll need later if it actually works?

“I agree with you,” Reich said. “It wasn’t the best-case scenario.”

And he said: “I agree. The odds are low.”

The shame of it is that the Colts couldn’t win this game for Andrew Luck, one I’m submitting as the best of his NFL career. He set career highs across the board with 40 completions in 62 attempts for 464 yards, and his four TD passes were one off his career best. At least six of his passes were dropped.

Plus, the other factors: Luck was playing against the most fearsome pass rush in the NFL – J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus, oh my – and he was doing it behind an offensive line missing both starting tackles (Anthony Castonzo and Joe Haeg). He was playing without his favorite target at tight end, Jack Doyle. He played half the game without his only truly great receiver, T.Y. Hilton, who missed most of the first quarter after a shot to the ribs, and who was missed some of the fourth quarter and all of overtime with an injured hamstring.

Andrew Luck threw for 464 yards with a receiving corps of veteran Ryan Grant, Chester Rogers (50 catches in three NFL seasons entering Sunday), Zach Pascal (career catches: two) and Marcus Johnson (five). And he tried the final Hail Mary of regulation, a 55-yard airborne heave. His arm is fine. Let’s move on.

Let’s bring it back here, to the fourth-down decision that decided this game in the final seconds of overtime: Reich went for it, the call blew up in his face, and it cost him the game. Play it safe, do the quote-unquote “smart” thing and punt it, and the Colts slink out of Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday with an act of surrender disguised as tie.

Instead they stalked out of here after an act of defiance disguised as a 37-34 loss. It was a loss, yes, but a statement of intention: The Colts aren’t afraid. That’s not how this franchise is going to roll.

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter: @GreggDoyelStar or at facebook.com/gregg.doyel.