Week 1 Game Recap: Indianapolis Colts 26, New York Giants 21

What you need to know

Indianapolis Colts

The much-anticipated showdown between quarterback brothers Peyton and Eli Manning managed to live up to its hype, as the two signal callers dueled until the final snap. Peyton Manning got the best of his brother on the scoreboard, although his stat line wasn’t quite as impressive. Peyton Manning led his team on several long scoring drives, eating up loads of clock and tiring out the Giants’ defense. He distributed his passes to six different receivers, although his targets typically went to his duo of excellent wide receivers. He even threw a pass to tackle-eligible Charlie Johnson in a goal line set, but Johnson couldn’t hold on.

The Colts running game was practically non-existent, averaging just about two yards per carry, and as such the game was dominated by quarterback play. The rush to pass disparity was substantial, 23 rushes to 41 passes. Neither Indianapolis runner established himself as the primary back. Dominic Rhodes got a majority of the carries, including goal line touches that earned him a score, while Joseph Addai had a much better per carry and per reception average.

Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne were the focus of the passing game, although Wayne didn’t see as many targets as Harrison, in part due to some time spent on the sideline with an unknown injury. He returned but wasn’t particularly effective. Dallas Clark caught the only touchdown reception of the Colts’ day, late in the second quarter.

The Indianapolis Colts’ defense was extremely porous versus the Giants’ running game, but they were opportunistic enough to earn a victory. They picked off Eli Manning at a critical moment in the fourth quarter, and also pounced on a poor Eli Manning to Tiki Barber handoff that was fumbled.

New York Giants

The New York Giants displayed an extremely effective ground attack, with Tiki Barber gaining over 100 yards rushing and Brandon Jacobs running well with his opportunities, including a goal line score. Despite averaging over 6.5 yards per carry, the Giants threw more than they ran, given that they were behind for most of the game. Barber continued his trend of performing as the Giants’ workhorse back, ending the game with 161 total yards.

Eli Manning played a solid game, throwing touchdowns to Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey. Manning did make a few mistakes, as he lost a fumble and threw an interception late in the game. His accuracy was off at times, and his interception was a bit troubling as he essentially threw up a jump ball that Colts’ defender Nick Harper easily snagged out of the air.

Plaxico Burress made several highlight reel plays, including a couple catches where his used his excellent size and ability to tip the ball to himself before securing the reception. He was the Giants’ receiving yardage leader, as well as Eli Manning’s most targeted receiver.

The Giants’ defense shut down the Colts’ running game, but didn’t have enough to overcome Peyton Manning’s offensive prowess. Cornerback R.W. McQuarters marked his New York debut with an interception of a pass intended for Dallas Clark, but Giants’ defenders missed two other opportunities to pick off Peyton Manning. The Giants’ vaunted pass rushing duo of Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora didn’t record a single sack in the game.

The defense heroically stopped the Colts late in the game, ensuring Eli Manning and the offense one more chance for a march to victory. The offense ran out of time, though, and the game ended on an incomplete pass from Manning to Burress.

What you ought to know

QB Peyton Manning, Pass: 25 - 41 - 276 - 1 TD / 1 INT

Manning had a typically excellent game. He was the primary focus of the offense, as the rushing game wasn’t effective. Manning led his team on several scoring drives, although there were opportunities for touchdowns that ended up only producing field goals. His stats were solid although unspectacular. Manning’s favorite targets were Harrison and Wayne, although the tights ends and running backs saw several looks as well. He handled the Giants’ pass rush well, frequently moving both in and out of the pocket to avoid pressure and get off passes. Manning did make a few bad decisions, as his one interception could have easily been three had it not been for drops by New York defenders.

RB Dominic Rhodes, Rush: 16 - 29 - 1, Rec: 3 - 14 - 0 (3 targets)

Rhodes didn’t do much with his opportunities, although he did take advantage of his goal line carries and scored a touchdown. Otherwise, he wasn’t impressive. He did a good job of protecting Peyton Manning through pass blocking, and he caught a few balls out of the backfield. As with Joseph Addai, his overall totals were hurt by the running game’s ineffectiveness.

RB Joseph Addai, Rush: 7 - 26 - 0, Rec: 3 - 22 - 0 (4 targets)

Addai was the number two running back in terms of carries, although his 3.7 yards per carry average was much better than Dominic Rhodes. He was targeted once more in the passing game than Rhodes, and was overall more productive than the starter. The running game’s overall lack of effectiveness hurt his totals. Addai also got his first tackle of his career, ending R.W. McQuarters runback of Peyton Manning’s interception.

WR Marvin Harrison, Rec: 9 - 113 - 0 (15 targets)

Harrison was quarterback Peyton Manning’s favorite target, and by a wide margin. Harrison turned in a typically excellent performance, although it could have been easily augmented late in the game. Manning had connected with him on a deep pass near the goal line and Harrison looked as though he could easily have stepped into the end zone for the score. For some unknown reason he let his momentum carry him out of bounds instead. Harrison saw an increase in his targets when Wayne was temporarily sidelined with an unknown injury.

WR Reggie Wayne, Rec: 4 - 67 - 0 (8 targets)

Wayne was the second most targeted receiver by Peyton Manning. He caught a nice deep pass for 34 yards early in the game. Wayne left the game temporarily with an unknown injury in the second quarter. He later returned but only had one more reception. Wayne had a couple of drops.

WR Aaron Moorehead (1 targets)

Moorehead received one target in the game, which was incomplete. He looked to have run a different route than Peyton Manning had expected.

WR Brandon Stokley

Stokley was inactive for the game with his injured ankle.

TE Ben Utecht, Rec: 3 - 21 - 0 (5 targets)

Utecht contributed well to the receiving game, seeing just as many targets and receptions as starting tight end Dallas Clark. The Colts use a lot of two tight end sets. He was flagged for one false start penalty.

TE Dallas Clark, Rec: 3 - 39 - 1 (5 targets)

Clark had a couple of big receptions, including a 23 yard gain and a two yard touchdown. He was targeted on Peyton Manning’s lone interception; it looked to be the same play as the 23 yard connection earlier in the game, although this time Manning didn’t thread the needle.

PK Adam Vinatieri 4 - 4 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 14 points

Vinatieri showed no ill effects from the lingering issues with his non kicking foot. He booted PATs, field goals, and kickoffs with power and accuracy. He was true on all four of his field goal attempts (26, 32, 48, and 32) as well as both of his PATs.

IND Rush Defense

The Colts’ rush defense was porous to say the least. Giants’ running backs Tiki Barber and Brandon Jacobs both averaged over six yards a carry. The only silver lining for their performance was keeping Barber out of the end zone, although Jacobs did earn a goal line touchdown. The rush defense game up 186 yards and score.

IND Pass Defense

The Colts’ pass defense was adequate. Nick Harper intercepted an Eli Manning pass, although it resulted from a poor pass more than from an outstanding defense effort. Dwight Freeney was shut down by Giants’ left tackle Luke Pettigout, and the entire pass rush was shut out of the sack category. The pass defense gave up two touchdowns and nearly 250 yards.

QB Eli Manning, Pass: 20 - 34 - 247 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0

Manning played admirably in the shadow of his older brother, but a few mistakes and some poor managing of the clock ended any chance he had to lead his team to victory. He favored receiver Plaxico Burress with his targets, although four different Giants had five or more looks. Manning hit both Burress and tight end Jeremy Shockey with touchdown strikes. His lone interception was a jump ball type pas, although Nick Harper easily picked it off. Manning was charged with a fumble when an attempted handoff to Tiki Barber hit the turf and was recovered by Indianapolis. He had an opportunity to lead his team to victory in the final minute of the game, but poor clock management and hurry-up offensive execution doomed the drive to failure.

RB Tiki Barber, Rush: 18 - 110 - 0, Rec: 5 - 61 - 0 (5 targets)

Barber was the Giants’ offensive workhorse, eating up large chunks of yardage on the ground and turning all five of his targets into receptions. His long was only 17 yards, but he had several go for more than five. He seemed to get winded a couple of times, and was spelled somewhat frequently by Brandon Jacobs. He didn’t reach the end zone, as all of his work was done getting the team down the field.

RB Brandon Jacobs, Rush: 8 - 54 - 1 (1 targets)

Jacobs had lots of success against the soft Colts’ rush defense. His limited work produced fantastic results, including a high per carry average and a goal line score. Jacobs’ huge frame and nimble moves complemented Barber’s running style well. Jacobs was mostly an afterthought in the passing game.

RB Jim Finn

Finn led the way for Tiki Barber and Brandon Jacobs with great blocking.

WR Amani Toomer, Rec: 5 - 41 - 0 (7 targets)

Toomer converted a high percentage of his targets, and proved to be a reliable option for Eli Manning. He was Eli Manning’s target on the Nick Harper interception. Most of his receptions went for short yardage; his last catch of 16 yards boosted his per catch average. He was penalized for one false start.

WR Plaxico Burress, Rec: 4 - 80 - 1 (8 targets)

Burress was the most targeted receiver for the Giants. He had a couple of highlight-reel grabs where he used his prototypical size and ability to tip the ball to himself for the catch. He showed excellent concentration on these grabs, one of which was good for a 37 yard touchdown. He blocked well downfield for the running game, and was generally a highlight for the Giants’ offense. He did have a couple of penalties called against him which were detrimental to the team.

WR Mike Jennings, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets)

Jennings caught one pass for six yards.

WR Tim Carter (4 targets)

Carter had a few drops. He actually caught one of his targets for a 19 yard gain, but he was called for offensive pass interference, which negated his reception. Replays indicated that this was a horribly penalty call and the play should have stood. This call led directly to Eli Manning’s interception.

WR Sinorice Moss

Moss didn’t see any game action as he continues to recover from his quadriceps injury.

TE Jeremy Shockey, Rec: 5 - 59 - 1 (6 targets)

Shockey was quiet in the first half but started the second half strong with a 15 yard touchdown. He continued to receive looks from Eli Manning and contributed well to the passing game.

PK Jay Feely 0 - 1 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 3 points

Feely missed his only field goal attempt, from 40 yards, wide left. His was good on all three of his PATs.

NYG Rush Defense

The Giants shut down the Colts’ running game. Both starter Dominic Rhodes and rookie Joseph Addai couldn’t get anything going on the ground. They were so dominant that the Colts basically became a pass only team, despite having the lead throughout the game. The defensive line got good penetration that disrupted the Colts’ blocking. They didn’t allow a rush for more than nine yards. Rhodes did score from the goal line, but even then the rush defense had denied him on his first try. The rush defense gave up 55 yards and one score.

NYG Pass Defense

The Giants’ pass defense had the unenviable task of attempting to contain Peyton Manning and his cadre of excellent receivers. The task was semi-successful, but only in that Manning didn’t have a huge game. They allowed only one touchdown, from Manning to Clark, and also snagged an interception. They had two other interception opportunities literally fall through their hands. The much hyped defensive end combo of Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora didn’t get to Peyton Manning, and Umenyiora even missed some time with a leg cramp. Only one sack was recorded, by defensive tackle Fred Robbins. The pass defense gave up 276 yards and one score.