The Indianapolis Colts beat the Tennessee Titans 30-27 on Thursday night at Nashville. Like usual the Colts had to come from behind to pull out the win. Although this wasn’t a 4th quarter comeback, they still trailed by 14 twice in the first half. But the 3rd quarter was a whole different story. It took just under half of the quarter to turn a 17-6 halftime deficit into a 20-17 lead.
The Colts scored on their first possession of the 3rd period, a 74-yard drive, finishing with a 6-yard Donald Brown touchdown run. Then the Titans fumbled the ensuing kickoff. The Colts recovered on the Titans’ 20-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Andrew Luck scored on an 11-yard touchdown run to give the Colts a lead they would never relinquish. While winning the game is the most important thing, for the third game in a row, Indianapolis trailed by at least 14 points in the first half, but they ended up winning 2 of those games.
After this win, the Colts are 7-3 and have a 3 game lead in the weak American Football Conference (AFC) South division. However, if they are to be successful in the playoffs, they can’t keep trying to dig themselves out of large first half holes. It worked against the Titans and Houston Texans, but they never even made the game competitive two weeks ago against the St. Louis Rams, losing 38-8. Since wide receiver Reggie Wayne is out for the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), coming back in games becomes more difficult.
The present standings in the AFC have the Indianapolis Colts as the #3 seed, behind the Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots. If they can get up to the #2 spot, and have a first round bye, then a home playoff game in the second round, they will be in good shape. But if they finish with the #3 seed or especially if they drop to the #4 seed, their path in the playoffs will get dramatically more difficult. As the #4 seed, they will most likely have to face the second place team in the AFC West in the first round. That would be either the presently undefeated Chiefs, or the 8-1 Denver Broncos. Even playing in Indianapolis, the Colts would probably be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
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Sports With Frank Thomas
