Colts hand old friend Peyton first loss of season
Desperate team hands Manning, Denver first loss
If nothing else, the Indianapolis Colts probably bought themselves a bye week focused on something other than who gets fired next.
They entered Lucas Oil Stadium in crisis mode Sunday and exited with the type of win against old friend Peyton Manning and the previously unbeaten Denver Broncos that can revive Super Bowl dreams, no matter how bad the Colts have looked at times in this trying season.
“Hearing all the BS about we can’t do this, we can’t do that, and today we stood up to a top team in the NFL,” running back Frank Gore said after a 27-24 triumph improved the Colts’ record to 4-5. “But I’m not surprised, though.
“As long as we don’t beat ourself, we have a great shot. But be real, though. Be real. When y’all watch film, we also help the other team. We (don’t) suck. We’re not a suck team. We just can’t beat ourself.”
For once, the turnovers abated Sunday, and the Colts heeded coach Chuck Pagano’s call to start fast — even if they did squander a 17-0 lead with mistakes on special teams and defense that let the Broncos back into the game, starting with Omar Bolden’s 83yard punt-return touchdown as the first half ended.
With new coordinator Rob Chudzinski calling the shots, An-
drew Luck and the Colts offense twice responded to the Broncos tying the game down the stretch with their own lengthy scoring drives against a Denver defense that has been the best in the league.
“The truth of the matter is we have the pieces,” Luck said. “That’s pretty darn obvious. With all respect for every opponent we’ve played, we were also committing some terrible self-inflicted negatives. “We didn’t do that today.” Indianapolis also made Manning, whose 64-yard TD strike to Emmanuel Sanders early in the third quarter aided the comeback, wait another week to topple two career records he began working toward here with the Colts in 1998: passing yards and quarterback wins, both held by Brett Favre.
Manning was 3 yards shy of breaking the passing mark when he got the ball back with 6:13 to go after Adam Vinatieri’s goahead 55-yard field goal. But the five-time MVP was promptly intercepted by Darius Butler.
The Colts never gave back the ball, running out the clock by picking up five first downs on a 1- yard Gore run, an 18-yard strike to Griff Whalen on third-and-10 and three Broncos penalties.
How badly did the Colts need this?
“Really bad,” Whalen said. “None of us had any doubts that we can do this today. We’ve been talking about that all year, that we know what type of team we can be, but we needed to start actually putting it together on the field.”
Knocking off one of the AFC’s elite days after dumping offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton figures to keep Pagano employed at least a little longer.
And who knows? If Luck settles down and plays like this (21for-36 passing for 252 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, plus 34 yards on six rushes), Indianapolis could be a dangerous team with a relatively clear path into the postseason through the awful AFC South.
Now the Colts get a week — just slightly calmer than the last one — to rest up and re-evaluate for the stretch run, which for them begins Nov. 22 on the road against the slumping Atlanta Falcons.
“Now our coaches can get together,” Gore said. “We know what we’re good at, and we go on from there.”