LUCK PROPELS COLTS INTO POST-SEASON
Indy qualifies as sixth seed in AFC after beating Titans in finale
NASHVILLE Andrew Luck threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns and the Indianapolis Colts beat the Tennessee Titans 33-17 on Sunday night for the final spot in the postseason as the AFC’s No. 6 seed.
With the Texans winning the AFC South title earlier Sunday with a victory over Jacksonville, that left the Colts and Titans playing for the second wild-card berth and a visit to Houston on Saturday.
Luck remained perfect against the Titans, becoming the only quarterback since at least 1970 to win his first 11 starts against one franchise.
He helped the Colts (10-6) — under first-year coach Frank Reich — earn the franchise’s first postseason trip since the 2014 season.
The Titans (9-7) saw their fourgame winning streak snapped with quarterback Marcus Mariota sidelined by neck and foot injuries. They missed the playoffs for a second straight year, this time under first-year head coach Mike Vrabel.
The Colts intercepted two of Blaine Gabbert’s passes in the final 9:05 to finish off their 13th win in the last 15 games in the series.
Marlon Mack ran for 119 yards and a TD for the Colts.
Adam Vinatieri kicked field goals of 53 and 25 yards.
The NFL’s oldest active player missed his final extra point.
Derrick Henry, who took the Titans’ first offensive snap out of the wildcat, finished with 93 yards.
Tennessee was missing three defensive starters, with four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jurrell Casey placed on injured reserve Monday and linebacker Brian Orakpo scratched for a third straight game.
That left the Titans unable to pressure Luck even with the Colts missing centre Ryan Kelly because of a neck injury.
Luck simply shredded a Tennessee squad that came in as the NFL’s No. 2 scoring defence, giving up just 18 points a game.
He drove the Colts 92 yards before hitting Dontrelle Inman with an 11-yard TD pass and finished off a 90-play drive that used up nearly 10 minutes with a nine-yard pass to Eric Ebron. That put the Colts up 14-0, having held the ball for nearly 17 of the first 21 minutes. Luck also added a one-yard TD toss to Ryan Hewitt on the opening drive of the third quarter for a 24-10 lead.
Titans linebacker Jayon Brown almost single-handedly kept the Colts from putting the game away before halftime.
Brown returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. After Adoree Jackson inexplicably grabbed at a bouncing punt that put the Colts at the Tennessee nine-yard-line, the Colts had a TD run by Mack erased by a holding penalty on centre Evan Boehm. Two plays later, Brown stripped Mack of the ball and recovered it.
Ryan Succop kicked a 38-yard field goal that made it 17-10 at halftime. Gabbert threw a 22-yard TD pass to Luke Stocker to pull the Titans to within a touchdown again, 24-17, late in the third quarter.
INJURIES
The already banged-up Titans had tight end Luke Stocker leave with an injured knee early in the second quarter followed by receiver Tajae Sharpe being helped to the sideline with an ankle injury. Stocker returned. Sharpe didn’t.
Colts defensive end Tyquan Lewis hurt his knee late in the first half and did not return. Colts receiver Ryan Grant hurt a toe.