Doubt was back in the building and everyone involved with the Houston Texans could feel it.

A once 13-0 Texans lead wilted down to 13-10 at halftime and Peyton Manning had that old twinkle in his eye. Houston coach Gary Kubiak took it all in and made one of the most unexpected and important coaching calls of his career.

He decided to overpower the Indianapolis Colts, to finally exorcise the demon that's hovered over this Houston franchise ever since it came into existence by running it right down Manning and the Indianapolis Colts' throats.

So the Texans called running play after running play to open the second half — nine straight to start things off and 15 of their first 17 plays of the half overall. On this opening Sunday of the NFL season, the Texans wouldn't just make a huge statement in the AFC South. No, they'd beat the fancy bullies of the AFC to kingdom come.

Dominating physically on both sides of the ball, Houston used unheralded tailback Arian Foster's churning feet and a Mario Williams'-led pass rush onslaught to leave Manning and the Colts beaten, battered and bedazzled.

Texans 34, Colts 24.

The Texans offensive line and fullback Vonta Leach kept walking past Kubiak on the sideline, telling the often pass-happy coach to "Just run the damn ball." Kubiak couldn't help but smile inside every time he heard the line, the toughness many wondered if Houston's NFL team possessed coming through loud and clear.

This is how you kick a demon in the rear.

That 1-15 record against Indianapolis for the Texans coming in? Blowing a 17-point home lead to Manning in back-to-back seasons? All the national disses of this Texans team? Throw it all out the window.

Houston served notice that it's definitely a new season — one with a new tougher team and an attitude calling Reliant Stadium home.

Foster exploded for a career-high 231 yards and three touchdowns on the ground behind an offensive line that pushed around the Colts' fast defense. Williams never let Manning get comfortable, combining on two sacks of the seldom-touched quarterback, leading the pressure that led to several other takedowns and sending him to the turf after throws on several other occasions.

The Texans didn't even depend on their usual lifelines — quarterback Matt Schaub (a mere 107 yards passing) and receiver Andre Johnson (three catches for 33 yards). In fact, Schaub had something of an off day. Instead, Foster finished with the second-most rushing yards in NFL history on opening weekend, behind only a guy named O.J. Simpson's 250 yards in 1973.

Which makes the dominance even more telling.

"The thing I'm most happy about is that we really worked to become a more physical football team and it showed," Kubiak said in his postgame press conference.

Manning threw the ball almost 60 times (for 433 yards and three touchdowns) and still couldn't come close to overcoming Houston's physicality. Schaub only threw 17 passes as the Texans ran the ball 39 times.

Where did this team come from?

The Texans scored on their first three drives of the day, getting two field goals from new kicker Neil Rackers and a seven-play, 80-yard drive that showed Schaub at his best. On back-to-back plays, Schaub hit Jacoby Jones for a long gain and then looked off Jones to find Kevin Walter wide-open down the middle for the touchdown.

Suddenly, it was 13-0 Houston and Reliant Stadium rocked with hope — if still not downright belief.

Manning still stood on the other side after all. And when Schaub threw an ill-advised pick, trying to force the ball to a double-covered Andre Johnson, the Colts only needed to drive 35 yards to slice the advantage in more than half. Later, when a Colts field goal pulled the Texans' personal Lucy yank-away tormentor within 13-10, the old rumbling returned.

Would Kubiak's team blow it again?

No ... Not this day. Not this season. Not with this new team.