Filed under: Bengals, Colts, AFC North, AFC South
INDIANAPOLIS -- As Kelvin Hayden saw it, the idea wasn't to carry the day.And Hayden said, too, that despite very obvious evidence on the team's injury report, the idea among the Indianapolis Colts' defensive players wasn't that they had to do anything special to allow Indianapolis to take sole possession of the AFC South.
That's just how it turned out.
Hayden, the Colts' veteran cornerback, returned an interception 31 yards for a first-half touchdown - and that was only one of five critical turnovers forced by the Colts' defense in a 23-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in front of 67,404 at Lucas Oil Stadium Sunday afternoon.
"We just go out there and do our job -- it doesn't matter who's out there," Hayden said.
There have been plenty of days in the last decade when the Colts' offense has been the overriding story.
But around Indianapolis, Sunday was a day for defense.
"They came up big all day," quarterback Peyton Manning said.
Manning spoke these words following a day on which he and the Colts' offense struggled at times, but very understandably so. Because while Manning and Colts coach Jim Caldwell each emphasized that they make no excuses -- and while each said the offense must play better -- there were indeed reasons for the day lacking what Manning called "flow and rhythm."
Most of those reasons could be found on the injury report.
The Colts not only played without tight end Dallas Clark and wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez, a pair of first-round selections lost for the season on injured reserve, they also played without not only rapidly emerging star wide receiver Austin Collie and free-agent rookie Blair White.
Collie missed the game after missing practice all week with the aftereffects of a concussion, and White missed with a shoulder injury that kept him out of practice Thursday and Friday.
The Colts also played without starting running back Joseph Addai and third-team running back Mike Hart.
Manning talked extensively after the game of what it took to get new players such as Brandon James - who caught four passes for 36 yards after being signed from the practice squad this week - acclimated in a hurry, but said nothing of the impact of injuries on an offense.
Caldwell similarly offered no excuses.
"We make no excuses about anything," Caldwell said. "Ask any guy on offense, and they are going to tell you that execution is still key. We still had some opportunities to move the ball and put the ball in the end zone, but we just did not execute quite like we would like to in those situations.
"We don't ever point to a particular guy missing here or there as a reason why we didn't play as well as we did."
Manning, who completed 20 of 36 passes for 185 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions, worked primarily underneath routes, and tight end Jacob Tamme had a third consecutive solid game in relief of Clark. Tamme caught seven passes for 73 yards, and the Colts' lone touchdown came on a three-yard second-quarter run by rookie free-agent running back Javarris James.
That touchdown, like so much of the Colts' success Sunday, came after a big play by the defense.
James' touchdown? It was set up by a fumble recovery by Colts defensive tackle Antonio Johnson and gave the Colts a 17-0 lead. The fumble recovery came two plays after Hayden's 31-yard touchdown return with an errant pass by Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer gave the Colts a 10-0 lead, an important momentum swing in an game that felt like a field-position, defensive battle early.
"Our whole emphasis this week was on causing turnovers and making a play on defense," Hayden said. "Making a play like that is exactly what we're trying to do on this defense."
In all, the Colts forced five turnovers Sunday, with linebacker Tyjuan Hagler's 35-yard interception return setting up a field goal that pushed the Colts' second-half lead to 23-10.
The Bengals' lone touchdown of the second half came on a 19-yard pass from Palmer to rookie tight end Jermaine Gresham with 2:35 remaining.
That made it 23-17, and the Bengals actually had two more possessions with a chance to take the lead. The first came after Cincinnati recovered an onside kick and ended when Colts Pro Bowl defensive end Dwight Freeney forced a fumble by Greshman that Freeney also recovered.
The Bengals' final possession started at their 21 after forcing a Colts punt, but Freeney and fellow Pro Bowl defensive end Robert Mathis sacked Palmer on back-to-back plays.
"I don't know what kind of defensive statement we made today, but we do know internally we can make plays and we will make plays," Freeney said. "We're all in it together and we can perform at a high level even with different faces in some places."
And as Manning pointed out, the Colts' defensive effort came despite a slew of injuries on that side of the ball. Freeney and Mathis are familiar and healthy, but the Colts on Sunday played without middle linebacker Gary Brackett and outside linebacker Clint Session.
That moved rookie Pat Angerer to the middle, with Philip Wheeler starting on one side and Hagler -- a longtime reliable player around the Colts who nonetheless didn't sign with the team this season until after the regular-season began- on the other.
Another of the Colts' takeaways also came from a player not on their roster at the beginning of the season. Safety Aaron Francisco, starting at a position first held by Bob Sanders and later by Melvin Bullitt, stopped a fourth-quarter drive with one of the Colts; four interceptions.
"All of these guys are buying into what we're trying to do out there," Hayden said.
Hayden said more than worrying about who is and isn't there, Colts worry about forcing 3rd-and-long situations on defense then taking advantage of the opportunities.
"It's always great when you can force five turnovers and get the offense off the field," Hayden said.
However it happened, the victory moved the Colts into first place in the AFC South, and while that's a familiar position for a team that has won six of seven AFC South titles, how they arrived there is unfamiliar. The Colts have won five of their South titles during this run leading the division start to finish. Last year, they clinched with three games remaining after starting the season 14-0.
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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/11/14/colts-defense-forces-five-turnovers-in-23-17-victory-vs-bengals/
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