|
 It's just a hard habit to break when they keep rallying for
victories.
The Colts trailed 14-0 before Andrew Luck and the offense scored 20
straight points and turned a 17-6 halftime deficit into a 30-27 win
over the Tennessee Titans on Thursday night.
"That's how we make our living," Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. "It
caught up with us two games ago. We have got to try to make things a
little easier on ourselves."
The Colts (7-3) have been outscored 35-0 in the first quarter in
their past three games — two of them victories. They also have
trailed in six games after the first quarter this season.
"There is no panic," Colts safety Antoine Bethea said. "We always
talk about it's going to come down to the last 2 minutes of the
game, and this year that is what it has been."
Indianapolis is in firm control of the AFC South having beaten all
three division opponents on the road this season. The Colts have
beaten the Titans four straight and nine of the last 10.
The Titans (4-6) know only too well about the final 2 minutes. They
scored late for a second straight game and couldn't recover an
onside kick. Now Tennessee has lost five of six, and the Titans will
play four of their final six on the road.
"We knew the Colts were a good second-half team, and we didn't
finish the game out," Titans defensive end Derrick Morgan said. "We
are losing close games that we think that we should have won. We
haven't been finishing games. We are who we are."
Here are five things to know about the Colts taking control of the
AFC South against the Titans:
COLTS CAN RUN: The Colts have been struggling to protect Luck and
open holes in the run game. Indianapolis had just 14 yards in last
week's embarrassing 38-8 loss to St. Louis. But the Titans sacked
Luck only once, and Donald Brown ran for 80 yards and two
touchdowns, including the clincher with 3:01 left. The Colts ran 10
times on an 11-play drive before Brown scored his second TD. "They had a point to prove," Pagano said.
[to top of second column] |
AGELESS WONDER: Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri isn't slowing down
with age. Vinatieri, who will turn 41 on Dec. 28, made all three
of his field-goal attempts and improved to 20 of 23 this season.
His field goals Thursday included a 48-yarder and a 50-yarder.
He has made each of his last four attempts from at least 50
yards out, matching his career-best from that distance.
RECEIVING HELP: The Colts have been looking for someone other
than T.Y. Hilton to help out Luck by catching passes since
Reggie Wayne tore his ACL. Well, they found a few options
against the Titans. Coby Fleener had a career-high eight catches
for 107 yards with a long of 39, and Trent Richardson caught
five passes for 31 yards. They still need more from their other
receivers, who combined to catch only three passes, and Darrius
Heyward-Bey didn't finish after hurting an ankle.
SPECIAL TEAMS GAFFE: The Titans are on their third kick returner
this season in Devon Wylie. Darius Reynaud was cut last month
after his latest mistake, and Damian Williams was sidelined by
an injured hip. So Wylie, who hadn't returned a kick or punt
this season, filled in. His first return of the third quarter
popped out when he ran into the back of teammate Craig Stevens,
and the Colts scored to take a lead they never surrendered.
"It's unfortunate," Wylie said. "It was very big."
FINISHING: The Titans have lost two straight games in the span
of five days when they scored late but couldn't recover the
onside kick. This time, Rob Bironas' kick didn't even cover the
10 yards necessary before the Titans could recover it without
touching any of the Colts. The ball rolled right to Colts
linebacker Pat Angerer.
___
AP NFL website:
http://www.pro32.ap.org/
[Associated
Press; TERESA M. WALKER, AP Sports Writer]
AP Sports Writer Steve
Megargee contributed to this report.
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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