Indianapolis Colts WR Reggie Wayne (Jose Yau/AP Photo)
Indy Football Report Editor John Oehser takes a next-day look at the Indianapolis Colts' 35-27 victory over the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas in Week 12 of the 2009 NFL season . . .
PART ONE OF TWO. PART TWO HERE.
THE QUICK LEAD . . .
As Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning sees it, consistency is the key. Professionalism is pretty big, too.
Manning, in his 12th season as the Colts' quarterback, has seen some long winning streaks. Thirteen games to start the 2005 season. Eight games late in the '04 season. Seven games in '07. Nine in '06. And now, not only 11 to start the '09 season, but nine to end the '08 regular season.
That's 20 consecutive regular-season victories, one shy of the NFL record held by the 2006-2008 New England Patriots.
The Colts, who clinched their sixth AFC South title in seven years on Sunday, can tie the Patriots' record with a victory over the streaking Tennessee Titans at Lucas Oil Stadium Sunday, and Manning said after a victory over the Houston Texans it was tough to put the streak in perspective.
"I probably have to put a little more thought into that," Manning said Sunday after the Colts' 35-27 victory over the Texans at Reliant Stadium in Houston. "I'll say this - the guys that have been here throughout those games are professionals. Our players prepare just as hard for any team we play.
"It's not just for the rival teams. Guys go about their business in a professional way. They prepare hard. You like being around guys that have respect for their job and take it seriously. That doesn't guarantee you're going to win every game, but you sure like the way you feel about your team going into each game. We're happy about wins. We don't get over-excited. When things aren't going the way we want them to, we don't panic. We don't yell, we don't throw helmets.”
WR Reggie Wayne, like Manning, has started every game of the aforementioned streaks, and -- like Manning -- he has seen numerous rallies by the Colts over the same span. And lately, Colts rallies have become as big a story as the streaks. The Colts have rallied in the fourth quarter to win each of the last five games -- an NFL record -- and on Sunday, they rallied for a second consecutive season from a 17-point deficit to win in Houston.
The victory Sunday was the the second time in three weeks the Colts have rallied from a 17-point deficit to win. They did it against the New England Patriots three weeks ago.
"It just goes to show what kind of bond we have, to just stick in there and not panic and keep playing just like the last four weeks," Wayne said. "When we went down, nobody was pointing fingers and nobody was panicking about what was going on. We just continued to fight and play football. It worked in our favor.
“We have some veterans on this team that have been in this situation before. They showed the younger guys what to do to lead the way. We talk about it all week, about staying in there and staying focused. We are going to have some storms, but we have to keep fighting through that adversity. It’s been like that for the last five weeks. I’m sure everybody in this locker room would want it a little easier. It was the cards that were given to us and we had to play our hand.”
A FEW QUICK THOUGHTS . . .
* The more you watch RB Joseph Addai in recent weeks, the more you like what you see. And the more you think about it, the Colts aren't sharing carries between Addai and rookie RB Donald Brown nearly as much as once might have been anticipated. Brown had some recognition issues in protection a few weeks back and also missed two games with a shoulder injury, and it seems the Colts have decided for now, the offense works better with Addai's versatility and reliability. The biggest issue is that the Colts' running game -- while not among the league's best -- has gotten progressively better, and early in the season, few believed that would have been the case without Brown playing a major role. Give Addai a lot of credit: despite a lot of nonbelievers and critics, he has put together a nice season.
* The Colts' defensive effort in the second half was as impressive as anything the unit has done all season. It's not possible to underestimate the impact of the loss of DE Dwight Freeney, who missed the game with an abdominal injury. The Colts' pass rush wilted in the second half of 2007 without him, and during that stretch, Pro Bowl DE Robert Mathis had just two sacks. In the first half Sunday, it appeared to be more of the same, with Texans QB Matt Schaub completing 14 of 17 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown and the Texans leading, 20-7. Mathis had a huge sack in the second half, and that was only part of a dominant defensive performance. Although the offense didn't really get flowing until midway through the fourth quarter, the Colts' defense kept the game close and eventually the game ended with Indianapolis dominating each side of the ball.
* Part of the reason the Colts were able to overcome the loss of Freeney Sunday appeared to be an effective blitz scheme. As expected in the offseason, the Colts are blitzing far more often than they did under former Head Coach Tony Dungy and former coordinator Ron Meeks. They're not getting a lot of sacks with the blitz, but they're disrupting and hurrying quarterbacks and it's having an impact. "There was one time when I blitzed that I definitely should have had a sack, but it was a prime example of trying to do too much," Colts MLB Gary Brackett said. "I was going for the strip instead of just going for the hit and he got loose. You know, we got to the sidelines and guys were like, 'Don’t do too much, do what you’re suppose to do and we’ll be fine.' From then on, we blitzed, we rushed the passer, we did what we had to do and got the win.”
*So much for teams figuring out how to stop TE Dallas Clark. The veteran had 14 receptions three weeks ago against Houston and after he had five receptions the ensuing two weeks, there was some speculation teams were figuring out how to take him away. Apparently not -- or at least, Houston hasn't figured it out. Clark caught nine passes for 63 yards Sunday. “Dallas is not taken for granted around here," Colts QB Peyton Manning said. "His presence has a lot to do with how teams defend us, especially Houston. They game plan around where Dallas is, and you can see they are very conscious of him. Obviously, it's great to have a guy that can dictate to a defense and can allow you to do certain things, either to get the ball to him or free up some other guys.”
COFFEE WITH THE COLTS . . . CONTINUED
QUOTING THE COLTS FOLLOWING THE 35-27 VICTORY OVER HOUSTON
* Quoting the Colts Part One: Head Coach Jim Caldwell and President Bill Polian. Here.
* Quoting the Colts Part Two: RB Joseph Addai, S Antoine Bethea and MLB Gary Brackett. Here.
* Quoting the Colts Part Three: QB Peyton Manning and S Melvin Bullitt. Here.
* Quoting the Colts Part Four: DE Robert Mathis, LB Clint Session and WR Reggie Wayne. Here.
Comments