Colts Gab

Typically, one would think that if the Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns would hook up, then there would be lots of offense by both sides; if you thought that, then you would have thought wrong. Both teams got together Sunday at Browns Stadium and combined, there was a grand total of 408 total yards of offense. Both teams sputtered on the ground and in the air; but when the smoke cleared, it was the Colts’ defense that came through as defensive end Robert Mathis scooped up Browns’ quarterback Derek Anderson’s fumble and ran 27 yards for a touchdown, the game’s lone score as Indianapolis escaped with a 10-6 win over Cleveland.

Both teams exchanged field goals to round out the scoring in the first quarter; both teams suffered offensively during the second quarter as well as the lone score was courtesy of a 25-yard FG by Phil Dawson which gave the Browns a 6-3 lead which they would take into halftime. The third quarter was fifteen minutes of attrition as neither team scored. But alas, there was finally a score to account for in the fourth quarter.

With Cleveland holding onto their 6-3 lead, Anderson was setting up to throw on third down at his own 45 when he was hit from behind by the Colts’ Dwight Freeney; the ball squirted into the hands of Mathis, who ran 37 yards for the game’s only touchdown, giving Indianapolis a 10-6 lead. The Browns had one last shot at paydirt as Anderson was dropping back to pass when offensive tackle Kevin Shaffer was knocked back into Anderson. Anderson tried to leave the field under his own power but was unable to; it was discovered that Anderson suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament. Ken Dorsey replaced Anderson for the final last three plays – the last play being an interception by the Colts’ Antoine Bethea.

As previously mentioned, offense was in short supply and that was indicative of the final stats as Peyton Manning had easily his worst game of the season, going 15-for-21 for 125 yards and 2 INT’s while Anderson was 16-of-26 for 110 yards. Joseph Addai led all Colts rushers with 57 yards on 15 carries while Dominic Rhodes added 35 rushing yards; Jamal Lewis led the Browns rushing attack with 77 yards on 24 carries. Reggie Wayne led all Colts receivers with 4 receptions for 46 yards while Braylon Edwards led the Browns receivers with 36 yards on 2 receptions. Indianapolis (8-4) plays again next Sunday when they host the Cincinnati Bengals while Cleveland (4-8) travels to Nashville to take on the Tennessee Titans – also next Sunday.

The Colts will be remain without OG Ruan Lilja for the rest of the season, as today the team announced he will not play in the 08 season due to a knee injury. He missed the first 11 games, but was eligible to be back on the active roster Monday, but instead will remain on the PUP list. Reports say that Lilja will have surgery for the knee injury. He started all 16 regular season games last season, and 43 of 50 between 04 and 07.

Mr. Clutch did it again for the Indianapolis Colts – and no, I am not referring to quarterback Peyton Manning although in Sunday night’s game between the Colts and San Diego Chargers he had a hand in one of his patented, late-game drives. Mr. Clutch in this case was kicker Adam Vinatieri; with time expiring, Vinatieri booted a 51-yard field goal between the uprights, sending Indianapolis to the heart-stopping 23-20 victory over San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium.

The first quarter only had one score, a 23-yard FG by Vintieri giving the Colts a 3-0 lead going into the second quarter; the chargers would take a lead on a touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to Vicnent Jackson, giving San Diego a 10-3 lead. But Manning would strike back with a TD pass of his own, a 13-yarder to Anthony Gonzalez, tying things up at 10; Manning would turn a Rivers turnover into paydirt as he threw a 1-yard TD pass to Dominic Rhodes, giving Indianapolis a 17-10 lead with 38 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Colts would pad their lead to 20-10 on another FG by Vinatieri with 11:48 remaining in the game; but the Chargers would score the next 10 points – a FG by Nate Kaeding and a Rivers to Jacob Hester TD pass, knotting the game up at 20 with 1:30 left. Manning would drive the Colts down the field which was kept alive by a 14-yard reception by Marvin Harrison, which followed a lengthy review by the officials that took a first down away from Indianapolis.

The Colts called their last timeout with 15 ticks left on the clock; Joseph Addai would rush for a yard then Manning would spike the ball, setting up the game-winning FG by Vinatieri. Manning had a decent effort, going 32-of-44 for 255 yards with 2 TD’s and an interception while Rivers went 24-of-31 for 288 yards with 2 TD’s. Addai led the Colts rushers with 70 yards on 16 carries while catching 7 passes for 31 yards; LaDanian Tomlinson led the Chargers rushing attack with 84 yards on 21 carries while catching 3 passes for 30 yards.

Gonzalez led all Colts receivers with 6 receptions for 95 yards and a TD while Harrison added 6 catches for 44 yards; Chris Chambers led all Chargers receivers with 6 recptions for 61 yards while Jackson caught 2 pases for 57 yards and a score. Indianapolis (7-4) plays again on Sunday when they travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns while San Diego (4-7) remains home to host the Atlanta Falcons – also on Sunday.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning highlights the AFC Players of the Week for Week 12 of the NFL season. Manning earned offensive honors after throwing for 320 yards and two touchdowns in Indy’s 33-27 win over Houston last Sunday. It was Manning’s second weekly award of the season and 18th of his career.

It looks as if the Colts are turning their season around just in time. Teams around them are starting to slip, and the Colts are taking advantage of it with winning games and now looking ahead to a schedule that appears to have them on the fast road to a wild card birth.

Forget about the division, that’s already going to go to the Titans. But for the Colts, they may be playing their best football in some time. Peyton Manning is playing well, and the defense is holding teams down enough for the offense to be able to take advantage of it. “We’ve just been a little sharper,” coach Tony Dungy said Monday. “We’ve turned the ball over less and less, we’ve cut down the sacks and gotten rid of the ball a little quicker, so we’ve just played a little better.”

The team put up five straight scoring drives vs the Texans on Sunday at home, and the running game finally got in motion with Joseph Addai going for over 100 yards, the first time he’s done in that in 19 games. The team finished with 154 yards and overall had 474 yards. Not bad.

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Lately, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has been like the old-time tea kettle; he starts out slowly, then gradually warms up until he’s at full boil. Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans was no different. Manning did what he did best – mixing up the pass and run to perfection as the Colts scored on 4 consecutive second-half drives; as a result, Indianapolis defeated Houston 33-27 and kept their playoff hopes very much alive.

The first quarter was non-descript as Kris Brown kicked two field goals for Houston, sandwiching a 40-yard FG by the Colts’ Adam Vinatieri as Houston took a 6-3 lead into the second quarter. 2 FG’s by Vinatieri which sandwiched a 1-yard touchdown run by Houston’s Ahman Green gave the Texans a slim 13-9 edge going into halftime. That’s when Manning and company took over the second half.

Manning led the Colts on TD drives of 81, 80 and 73 yards, eliminating Houston’s 13-9 lead; the Texans closed the gap to 30-27 on a 2-yard TD run by Green with 8:54 left to go, but Manning engineered a 7:02 drive which led to another FG by Vinatieri, giving the Colts a 33-27 cushion. An interception of a Sage Rosenfels pass by Colts cornerback Melvin Bullitt sealed the win for Indianapolis.

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The Colts saved their season last Sunday with a gutsy 24-20 win over the Steelers, and this week at home against the underachieving Houston Texans they will look to continue their run at a wild card spot in the AFC. The 3-6 Texans come in after an awful home outing against the Baltimore Ravens in which Sage Rosenfels threw four picks and the team was beat up bad 41-13.

Peyton Manning and the Colts offense didn’t make the key mistakes in Pittsburgh last week, and they scored 14 points on two key Steelers interceptions enroute to the four-point win. They have had the Texans number as well coming in, winning 12 of the last 13 vs Houston, and three straight.

The last time these two teams met was back on October 5th, and Texans were sailing until Rosenfels lost the ball a couple of times and the Colts rallied for a huge 31-27 win. Indy has also won all six home games against the Texans by an average of 19.3 points.

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Quarterbacks JAY CUTLER of the Denver Broncos, PEYTON MANNING of the Indianapolis Colts and KURT WARNER of the Arizona Cardinals are the finalists for the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week honors for games played on November 6 – 10, while running backs THOMAS JONES of the New York Jets, MAURICE JONES-DREW of the Jacksonville Jaguars and ADRIAN PETERSON of the Minnesota Vikings are the finalists for the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week honors, the NFL announced today.

Fans can vote for one player in each category on NFL.com/FedEx from 9 a.m. EST on Tuesday through 11 a.m. EST on Friday to determine the FedEx Air and Ground NFL Players of the Week. The winners will be announced Friday afternoon on NFL.com.

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