This week was another close affair for the Indianapolis Colts. A 42yd field goal with one second to play by Kris Brown cost the Texans a chance to push the game into overtime.
The Colts started off the game red-hot. They went down and scored on their first possession. Their next possession began with great field position but were held to a Matt Stover 22yd FG. Another defensive stand by the Colts and a stop by the Texas forced the Stover to hit a 37yd FG to go up 13-0. Again the defense played solid. This defense is playing very well despite injuries. Bob Sanders (torn biceps), Marlin Jackson (ACL), Tyjuan Hagler (knee), the team continues to live by its motto—next man up.
Jim Caldwell (Sunday became the NFL’s first rookie coach to start 8-0 since Potsy Clark in 1930), made the wrong decision right before half to call timeout. With two seconds on the clock, Kris Brown had his 56yd FG blocked; but that didn’t matter because Coach Caldwell called a timeout in attempt to “ice” the kicker. I’ve never been a big fan of this call especially at the professional level. This FG was in the first half and not expected to be made so the pressure was very little. Kris Brown knocked his second attempt in easily to put the Texans on the board, down 13-3 at half.
Peyton Manning recovered from his poor passing performance last week going 34/50 with a TD and INT. Manning threw 25 passes in the first quarter, the most in an opening quarter since 1991; he was on pace to throw 100 passes in a game! There were a couple bad throws and multiple drops the team would certainly like to have back. The running game only amassed 67 total yards with definitely needs to be improved. That is without rookie Donald Brown who was again out with an injury. Addai, the starter so far thus season, rushed 14 times for 63 yards including 1 rush TD and a rec TD. With Brown healthy, the team has a much stronger and efficient running game.
Dallas Clark further improved his resume and chance to play in his first Pro Bowl. Clark caught 14 passes for 119yds, the third-highest single-game total by an NFL tight end. He is probably the most dependable TE in the league and it was no more evident than today. He picked up multiple first downs to keep the driving going. He took multiple tough hits including a forearm to the face. Clark is a huge part of the Colts offense and hopefully we will continue his effectiveness next week vs. the Patriots.
Next week is the game of the year as always. The Hoody (Belichick) and the New England Patriots come to Indianapolis to face one of the two unbeaten NFL teams. The Patriots continue to improve after their dismal start. Never lose faith in Belichick and Tom Brady, who is coming off ACL surgery in the offseason. It will be the most exciting game of the season, and the most important…It is the first game against a top-caliber team. It’s on prime-time stage—Sunday Night Football.
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- The Colts win their 17th straight regular season game—10 at home, and 14 of 15 all-time vs. the Texans. New England did it twice — winning a record 21 straight from 2006-08 and 18 in a row from 2003-04.
- Peyton Manning tied Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton for 4th in career victories (125) and became the first player in league history to throw for 40,000 yards in one decade.
- Manning was sacked for the first time this season in the 4th quarter.
- Reggie Wayne moved past Hall of Famer Raymond Berry and into 2nd on the Colts’ career reception list with 8 receptions.
- Dwight Freeney extended his streak of consecutive games with a sack to 9, breaking Robert Mathis‘ franchise record…The NFL record is 10.