INDIANAPOLIS -- Monday wasn’t all bad for the Indianapolis Colts.

The Colts were hit with bad news when it was announced that quarterback Andrew Luck is in the NFL’s concussion protocol, which leaves his status for Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers highly doubtful.

But Indianapolis caught a break a few hours later when the Oakland Raiders beat the Houston Texans in a game played in Mexico. The Texans’ loss brings the Colts to within a game of first place in the AFC South with six remaining in the season.

Of course, the Colts will have to try to move a step closer to the Texans by beating the Steelers without Luck. Pittsburgh has beaten the Colts by a total of 52 points in the last two meetings. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has put up video-game type numbers in those two games. He’s 64-of-88 for 886 yards with 10 touchdowns, no interceptions and no sacks in that span.

The Texans have two straight games against teams with losing records -- at home against San Diego (4-6) on Sunday and at Green Bay (4-6) the week after. What could give Houston problems is that its offense (18.1 points a game) is sporadic with quarterback Brock Osweiler and the Chargers and Packers both have quarterbacks in Philip Rivers (29.2 points a game) and Aaron Rodgers (24.7 points a game) who can lead their offenses down the field.

The Colts are hoping they’ll have Luck back for their Dec. 5 game at the New York Jets (3-7). And depending on what happens during the next two weeks, the Colts-Texans game at Lucas Oil Stadium on Dec. 11 could be for first place in the division.