Pack ‘O’ loses touch after 1st half
INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts’ defense might have turned Aaron Rodgers into a true believer Sunday.
Others around the league should take note, too.
After allowing three touchdown passes and 28 points in the first half, the Colts held one of the NFL’s highest-scoring teams to three points in the second half, forced a key fumble less than a minute into overtime and set up Rodrigo Blankenship’s 39-yard field goal for a 34-31 victory over the Packers.
“We actually talked in the first quarter, and he made it a point to say he didn’t mean it as any disrespect to me,” Pro Bowl linebacker Darius Leonard said, referring to a comment Rodgers made during the week. “I told him I didn’t really take it as disrespect; I took it as a challenge to go out and earn your respect. I told him I look for whatever motivates me because that’s my ultimate goal: to win the game and earn the respect of your opponent.”
Mission accomplished — twice. Leonard and his teammates certainly lived up to their No. 1 defensive ranking in the last 33 minutes. They forced three fumbles and had an interception. They held Aaron Jones to 41 yards on 10 carries. And they limited Green Bay (7-3) to 18 offensive snaps in the last two-plus quarters.
The Colts (7-3) did it with an old-school combination: an offense that played keepaway while the defense came up with two three-and- outs in the third quarter and a fourth- down stop late in the fourth.
Yet in this wild, wacky game, it almost wasn’t enough.
Five holding penalties allowed Rodgers to get one more shot in regulation, starting at the 6-yard line with 85 seconds left. Then on third-and-10, he hooked up with Marquez Valdes- Scantling for 47 yards. Six plays later, Mason Crosby hit a 26-yard field goal to tie the score with three seconds left.
So when the Packers won the coin toss and took the ball, it seemed they had all the momentum as Leonard started talking to himself.
“When the games get close, you’ve got to want to make a play,” he said. “You have to be the one to go out there with no fear and no doubt in your mind that you’re going to make a play. I was basically saying this is my time to go. If you get an opportunity, you’ve got to make a play.”
The opportunity came on the Packers’ second play in overtime when rookie safety Julian Blackmon split two blockers and stripped the ball from Valdes- Scantling.
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner recovered, and Blankenship won it moments later.
“Looked like a good play by the nickel; he kind of split Allen [Lazard] and Bobby [Tonyan] there,” Rodgers said. “But I think the ball was just a little loose. That stuff happens. He made a big play at the end of regulation to kind of get us going on third-and-10. Disappointed for him, disappointed for us.”
Rodgers was 27-for-38 for 311 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Davante Adams had seven catches for 106 yards and one score, and Jones rushed for another touchdown.
Philip Rivers, who led the Colts back from a 14-point halftime deficit, went 24-for-35 for 288 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Former Wisconsin star Jonathan Taylor had 22 carries for 90 yards.