Colts stop the Chiefs - no unbeaten team remains
Category: NFL Published on Monday, 11 October 2010 07:26 Written by Janó Hits: 137
That should have been a recipe for success against the defending AFC champions.
But the Chiefs were helpless against Indianapolis kicker Adam Vinatieri. In a game that had New England Patriots fingerprints all over it, Vinatieri made the difference with four field goals in the Colts’ 19-9 victory over the Chiefs on Sunday.
The Colts came into Sunday’s game as the NFL’s best team in red-zone offense, scoring 11 touchdowns in 15 trips inside the 20. But going against a scheme designed by Chiefs defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel — the architect of New England units that beat Manning during the early 2000s — the Colts didn’t score a touchdown on Sunday until 4 minutes remained in the game.
Vinatieri, still accurate at age 37, hit a couple of chip shots of 20 and 24 yards in the first half and a couple of bombs from 47 and 42 yards in the second half.
“You never know what the course of the game is going to like, and every game is different,” said Vinatieri, who won three Super Bowl rings with Crennel, Chiefs offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and general manager Scott Pioli with the Patriots during 2001-04.
“Sometimes you’re scoring touchdowns all the time, and today we had a tougher time getting into the end zone until the right at the end, but when you can keep putting up points and keep them behind us, and having them chase us, it’s a good thing.”
Manning was off to the best statistical start of his Hall of Fame career, throwing for 1,365 yards, 11 touchdowns, one interception and a league-best 112.1 passer rating through the first four games.
But Crennel’s scheme of dropping as many as eight defenders into coverage, including doubling NFL receiving leader Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark, frustrated Manning into his worst passer rating (65.0) since 2008 when he posted a 46.8 in a 10-6 win over Crennel’s Cleveland Browns.
“That’s what we thought we were going to see,” said Manning who completed 26 of 44 passes for 244 yards with a long of just 24 yards. “The Chiefs played a lot of eight-man coverage and weren’t going to give you many free plays or big plays down field. It’s tough throwing the ball against those kinds of looks … that’s a lot of hands that can be in the way … they were going to test your patience.
“It was frustrating because we thought we could move the ball and kept getting down close to the goal line. … We had two really good drives to start the game but had to settle for field goals. That’s what they wanted us to do.
“We would have liked to have gone up 14-0 as opposed to 6-0 and put a little more stress on their offense.”
The Colts, who didn’t lose their second game of last season until week 15 after they had clinched homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, badly needed this game after losing in overtime last week at Jacksonville.
The victory kept Indianapolis, 3-2, in a four-way tie with the other teams in the AFC South.
“I understand how it’s easy to compare previous seasons,” Manning said. “But that’s one thing we don’t talk about much, previous seasons. This is the 2010 team, and we’re still trying to figure out our identity. We’ve been somewhat inconsistent, playing really good one game, and then having a drop off …
“This was an important win. We knew this was going to be tough test, playing the Chiefs who had a lot of momentum, they were coming off their bye week, we knew they were going to be fresh, and we knew we were going to get their best shot. We certainly got that.”
They also got their best shot from Vinatieri, who has made 13 of 14 field-goal attempts in his career against the Chiefs.
“Vinatieri is an old veteran, so we can always rely on him, but we don’t want to use him a lot,” said wide receiver Pierre Garcon. “But we know that is a sure three points. That’s a good fallback.”
| Regular Season - Week 5 |
|
| Arizona Cardinals–New Orleans Saints | 30–20 |
| Dallas Cowboys–Tennessee Titans | 27–34 |
| Oakland Raiders–San Diego Chargers | 35–27 |
| San Francisco 49ers–Philadelphia Eagles | 24–27 |
| Earlier |
|
| Houston Texans–New York Giants | 10–34 |
| Detroit Lions–St. Louis Rams | 44–6 |
| Washington Redskins–Green Bay Packers | 16–13 (e. t.) |
| Carolina Panthers–Chicago Bears | 6–23 |
| Cincinnati Bengals–Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 21–24 |
| Baltimore Ravens–Denver Broncos | 31–17 |
| Cleveland Browns–Atlanta Falcons | 10–20 |
| Indianapolis Colts–Kansas City Chiefs | 19–9 |
| Buffalo Bills–Jacksonville Jaguars | 26–36 |
