Steelers at Colts, 1 p.m. Sunday, CBS

INDIANAPOLIS – The expectations for the season don’t suddenly change dramatically just because the Indianapolis Colts finally won a football game.

They snapped a three-game losing streak against the Houston Texans on Sunday, finally able to feel that elusive feeling. That winning feeling. But they are not suddenly destined to be a team that plays into late January. They are still 3-6 and in last place in the AFC South.

Still, that doesn’t mean they haven’t shown measurable progress. The Colts have given much better efforts in their past two games, and it has everything to do with the game that preceded the Cincinnati and Houston games during the past two weeks.

The 27-0 pasting at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 7 was a turning point of sorts, coach Chuck Pagano said Monday.

That’s when the Colts initiated some deep soul searching. It’s when they began shaking up the status quo. And it’s when they finally said enough is enough.

“Collectively, you get together and say, ‘Something’s got to change,’” Pagano said. “(Not changing) is the definition of insanity, right? Everybody gets together, players, coaches, you have conversations. ‘What do we do?’”

Mostly, the Colts changed their approach to practice. They began to emphasize competition over preparation. Where most of the full-team portions of practice generally are spent matching the scout team against a starting unit – better to prepare the starters for that week’s opponent – the Colts deviated from that tendency and believe the move generated some results.

“It’s about details, about executing,” Pagano said. “Whatever you do during the week – good and bad – it’s going to show up on game day. (We said) forget the opponent. Let’s just play. Let’s work on fundamentals, technique, execution. They’re having fun. They had fun playing football. It’s made a huge difference and we have to continue.”

Whether the shift in attitude and approach includes what’s happening with Vontae Davis is not totally clear. But it seems for all the world as if Davis, the team’s Pro Bowl cornerback, was benched Sunday. The team on Saturday released an update that said Davis would not make the trip to Houston because of issues that were not injury-related. The Colts pushed back strongly against reports that Davis had decided to take time off to allow his groin injury to heal.

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Pagano on Monday said he expected Davis to return to practice as normal later this week. But when asked whether Davis would be re-inserted into the starting lineup, Pagano hedged.

“Everybody has to earn everything around here,” he said. “You’ll be there on Sunday. You’ll get to see.”

If the emphasis truly is on competition, then the Colts might again turn to journeyman Pierre Desir, who blanketed standout receiver DeAndre Hopkins for much of Sunday’s game with surprising success. And the Colts added more cornerback competition by claiming former Kansas City Chiefs sixth-round pick D.J. White, a player who was drafted when Colts General Manager Chris Ballard was with the Chiefs’ front office.

Back to Sunday, when the Colts finished the game the old-fashioned way: With a defensive stop. They stopped the Texans despite their four chances to win the game from the 7-yard line.

“Longest 12 seconds of our lives,” Pagano joked. “But you wouldn’t want it any different. Yeah, it was a long 12 seconds. But gosh dang was it enjoyable afterward to come out on top.

“Do you want them all to be like that? No, but it’s the National Football League. So, most of them will come down to stuff like that. So, you fall back on your preparation.”

Is the preparation improving? The next game might be a better indicator, with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming to town Sunday for one of the season’s most difficult matchups.

This would be a good time to keep the recent changes going. Because no one wants a repeat of that Jacksonville disaster.

Roster moves

The Colts claimed cornerback D.J. White off waivers from Kansas City and signed cornerback Denzel Rice to the practice squad. They waived center Dillon Day and released cornerback Channing Stribling from the practice squad.

White played for the Chiefs last season. Rice has played for Houston and Philadelphia, but hasn't been on the field this season.

Follow Colts Insider Stephen Holder on Twitter: @HolderStephen.

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