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Manning, Addai have first 300-100 outing
November 17, 2008
By Phil Richards
indystar.com
Houston stubbornly hung on
through 59 brutally competitive minutes Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
In the end, the Texans couldn't dodge a Bullitt named Melvin.
Indianapolis Colts safety
Melvin Bullitt intercepted a Sage Rosenfels pass at the Indianapolis
35-yard line with 32 seconds to play to preserve a 33-27 Colts
victory. For the third consecutive week, the Colts went down to the
last play and won.
The problem was what to call it.
"We get one more, we'll
call it a winning streak," Bullitt offered.
"I know coach (Tony)
Dungy says you can't get to three if you don't get to two and you
can't get to four unless you get to three," said kicker Adam
Vinatieri, who went 4-for-4 on field goal attempts for the Colts.
"Maybe four is a streak. We'll see."
Whatever you call the events
of the past three Sundays, the Colts have rescued themselves and
surged into playoff contention. At 6-4, they trail only Tennessee (10-0),
the New York Jets (7-3) and Pittsburgh (7-3) in the muddled AFC.
They are tied with Baltimore, New England, Miami and Denver and hold
the head-to-head tiebreaker on the Ravens and Patriots.
Buffalo (5-4) will endeavor
to join the pack against Cleveland tonight.
"We're obviously playing
better," center Jeff Saturday said. "We're beating some
good teams, beating some AFC teams. So we're doing what we have to do.
"A streak? We're getting
closer to one."
Colts quarterback Peyton
Manning and running back Joseph Addai had their first 300-100 day.
Manning completed 30-of-46 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns.
Addai ran 22 times for 105 yards and a touchdown.
It took the Colts 18 games to
finally get a 100-yard rusher. Addai last did it against New England
on Nov. 4 a year ago.
The Colts scored on seven of
their nine possessions, the last of which was a game-ending, one-play
kneel-down. They achieved season highs in points, rushing yards
(154), passing yards (320), total yards (474) and third-down
conversions (10-of-15).
The offense was smoking.
"Last week our defense
got the takeaways and made a couple of big plays," Colts coach
Tony Dungy said. "This week it was our offense that kind of
saved us in the second half.''
The Colts scored 24 points
over the final 30 minutes but their defense experienced system
failure against an offense that had run up a lot of yards but not
turned them into points.
Houston (3-7) hit big plays.
Rosenfels set up a field goal with a 61-yard pass to wide receiver
Kevin Walter. It was the longest pass the Colts have yielded since
Cincinnati's Chad Johnson scored on a 68-yarder in November 2005.
Houston running back Steve
Slaton scored on a 71-yard run, the longest run in Texans history and
the longest permitted by the Colts since Jacksonville's Fred Taylor
broke a 76-yarder in December 2006.
Slaton ran 14 times for 156
yards, an 11.1-yard average and a club rookie record.
Houston jumped out to a 13-6
lead, but the Colts pared it to four points by driving 66 yards to
Vinatieri's 32-yard field goal five seconds before halftime. They
then scored touchdowns on their first three series of the second half.
Vinatieri made it 33-27 with
his last field goal, a 31-yarder with 1:52 to play.
The Texans weren't dead. They
moved to their own 36 before Colts end Dwight Freeney dropped
Rosenfels for a 7-yard loss, Freeney's second sack on a game-clinching
defensive series in as many weeks.
Rosenfels hit tight end Owen
Daniels for a first down at the 48. On the next play, Bullitt took
his drop, read Rosenfels and broke on the pass to put the game away.
It was Bullitt's third game-saving interception of the season, his
second in as many weeks. He made a last-play interception in the
Colts end zone at Pittsburgh last Sunday.
So the Colts have won three
games in succession with a trip to San Diego this week. What to call it?
"A streak usually is
about five or more for us," Colts defensive end Robert Mathis
ventured. "Our standards are high around here."
The Colts won five straight
in 2003, eight in succession in 2004. They had a run of 13 to open
the 2005 season, nine to start 2006, then streaks of seven and six
last year.
"Three? I wouldn't go as
far as calling it a winning streak or saying we found a cure,"
said linebacker Gary Brackett, whose eight tackles shared the team
lead with linebacker Clint Session. "I'd say we've established a base." |
