Week 9 Game Recap: Indianapolis Colts 27, New England Patriots 20

What you need to know

Indianapolis Colts

Peyton Manning led the Colts on a touchdown scoring drive on their opening possession of the game. It was a lead Indianapolis wouldn’t give up, as they continued their undefeated season, improving to 8-0. Manning had an excellent game, throwing two touchdowns to his longtime receiving target, Marvin Harrison. The Indianapolis defense made big plays all night, including four interceptions of New England quarterback Tom Brady. These turnovers were the difference in the game.

Joseph Addai continues to see the bulk of the carries in the running game, and continues to out produce starter Dominic Rhodes on a per touch basis. Addai finished with 43 yards and a touchdown, while Rhodes earned only 13 yards.

Wide receivers Harrison and Reggie Wayne were once again the foundation of the passing game. They each had double-digit targets, although Harrison had the better game with eight catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

While the rushing defense was still porous as usual, the opportunistic play of the pass defense was the difference in the game. They picked off four Tom Brady passes, and allowed no touchdowns. The game was decided when Cato June made his second interception, catching a ball that caromed off New England running back Kevin Faulk’s hands.

Ironically, kicker Adam Vinatieri missed his first two field goals of the season in his return to New England. Fortunately for him, his misses didn’t cost the Colts a win.

Kickoff Returner Terence Wilkins was a factor in the game, as his long returns regularly gave the Colts excellent field position. He averaged 35.0 yards on his five returns, including a long of 70. Although he did give up a fumble.

New England Patriots

Tom Brady had his worst game of the season, throwing four interceptions and no touchdowns. The interceptions were not entirely Brady’s fault, because two of them came on tipped balls. The turnovers interrupted New England’s offensive rhythm, and prematurely ended drives that looked to result in points. Brady distributed his passes to nine different receivers, with no one having more than five receptions (running back Kevin Faulk and wide receiver Troy Brown) or 54 yards (tight end Benjamin Watson).

The running game featured the two-headed attack of Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney. Maroney led the team with 63 yards, while Dillon earned 45 yards and two rushing scores. Both backs had 13 carries.

The defense gave up scoring drives on each of Indianapolis’ first half possessions, but tightened up significantly in the second half. They allowed two Manning to Harrison touchdown passes, one in each of the two halves of play, and a Joseph Addai rushing score. They sacked Manning three times and intercepted him once, but in the end it wasn’t enough to pull out the victory. On the injury front, safety Rodney Harrison left the game early and didn’t return. He was seen receiving treatment to his right arm on the sidelines.

What you ought to know

QB Peyton Manning, Pass: 20 - 36 - 326 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 3 - -3 - 0

Manning had an excellent performance, throwing for over 300 yards and finding Marvin Harrison for two scores. Once again his favorite targets were Harrison and fellow wide receiver Reggie Wayne. He threw to each of them over ten times. Manning was pressured by the Patriots’ pass rush to the tune of three sacks (a season high) and he threw his third interception of the year.

RB Joseph Addai, Rush: 18 - 43 - 1 (1 targets)

While Addai didn’t start, he certainly had starter-type carries and production. He continues to distance himself from Dominic Rhodes. Addai led the team with 18 carries, 43 yards, and scored the Colts’ lone rushing touchdown. Despite his low per-carry average, he displayed a powerful running style that resulted in several broken Patriots’ tackles.

RB Dominic Rhodes, Rush: 4 - 13 - 0

Rhodes only had four carries in the game, as his workload continues to diminish due to the better play of rookie Joseph Addai.

WR Marvin Harrison, Rec: 8 - 145 - 2 (13 targets)

Harrison had an outstanding game. He scored two touchdowns, one in each half of play. Harrison’s second touchdown was a jaw-dropping catch that he tipped to himself near the sideline, and then had the body control to get his feet in bounds for the score. He had long catches of 44 and 33 yards.

WR Reggie Wayne, Rec: 6 - 90 - 0 (16 targets)

Wayne’s 16 targets were a season-high. He was targeted a few times in the end zone, and had a long reception end just short of a score, as he was tackled at the one yard line. Wayne was second on the Colts in both receptions and receiving yards. He had one fumble that was knocked out of bounds averting a potential turnover.

TE Ben Utecht, Rec: 4 - 49 - 0 (4 targets)

Utecht caught all four of his targets. All of his catches came in the second half. Utecht wasn’t a factor in the passing game until Manning hit him with an unexpected pass. Manning looked to be the victim of a sack, but tossed the ball to Utecht at the last second. Utecht wasn’t running a route on the play, but was in for pass protection and converted what appeared to be a big loss into a five yard gain.

TE Dallas Clark, Rec: 2 - 42 - 0 (5 targets)

Clark had a 35 yard completion that set up the Colts’ only second-half touchdown. New England’s Chad Scott intercepted his final target, and Clark made the tackle on the ensuing run back. Clark made another heads-up play when Reggie Wayne fumbled; he managed to knock the ball out of bounds to retain possession for Indianapolis.

PK Adam Vinatieri 2 - 4 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points

Vinatieri wasn’t his usually stellar self in his return to New England. He missed both a 37 and 46 yard field goal. The last miss gave New England a chance to tie the game at the end of the fourth quarter, but fortunately for Vinatieri, New England’s last ditch effort didn’t succeed. He made all three of his PATs and connected on his other two field goals of 23 and 31 yards.

IND Rush Defense

The rush defense gave up bunches of yards, as usual. They surrendered 148 yards on 33 carries for a 4.5 yard per carry average. They gave up two rushing scores to New England running back Corey Dillon. They did manage to improve from one half to the next, giving up 97 yards in the first but only 51 in the second. Raheem Brock stripped Corey Dillon of the ball early in the second half.

IND Pass Defense

The pass defense was excellent. They gave up a little over 200 yards to New England quarterback Tom Brady. They made several big plays, including four interceptions, while allowing no scores.

QB Tom Brady, Pass: 20 - 35 - 201 - 0 TD / 4 INT, Rush: 3 - 13 - 0

Brady easily had his worst game of the 2006 season. He threw four interceptions and no touchdowns. To be fair, two of his interceptions weren’t his fault, as they were tipped balls that were then snagged by Indianapolis defenders. Brady favorite target was tight end Benjamin Watson, but in reality he threw to whoever was open; he targeted nine different receivers. Brady’s numbers would have been a bit better but his receivers had several drops throughout the game. His 13 rushing yards was the second highest for him this season.

RB Corey Dillon, Rush: 13 - 48 - 2, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (2 targets)

Dillon had a great game statistically on the strength of his two rushing touchdowns. He had the same number of carries, but had a lower average than rookie Laurence Maroney. Dillon had the ball stripped from him early in the third quarter. His second target was tipped at the line and intercepted by Colts’ linebacker Cato June.

RB Laurence Maroney, Rush: 13 - 63 - 0, Rec: 1 - -1 - 0 (2 targets)

Maroney was the most productive Patriots’ running back. He led the team in rushing yardage but didn’t find the end zone. He was also utilized on kickoff returns, gaining 139 return yards on five attempts.

RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 4 - 24 - 0, Rec: 5 - 31 - 0 (7 targets)

Faulk was Brady’s favorite target out of the backfield. He also had season highs in rushes and rushing yards. Faulk was the target on the last meaningful play of the game. The pass from Brady went through his usually sure hands and was intercepted by linebacker Cato June.

WR Troy Brown, Rec: 5 - 37 - 0 (5 targets)

Brown had an interesting game. He caught all five passes thrown his way, passing Stanley Morgan for the all-time Patriots lead in receptions along the way. That same play had him flagged for a taunting personal foul, although it didn’t appear he did anything to deserve it. Brown also saw some action as defensive back, where he was flagged for an illegal contact penalty.

WR Doug Gabriel, Rec: 2 - 45 - 0 (4 targets)

Indianapolis Colt Antoine Bethea intercepted Gabriel’s first look. He had the Patriots’ longest play of the game, a 39 yard completion late in the first quarter.

WR Reche Caldwell, Rec: 1 - 21 - 0 (6 targets)

Caldwell only converted one of his six targets. He seemed to drop some passes he should’ve caught, but he also was covered well on most of his looks. Caldwell was flagged for offensive pass interference on his first target.

WR Chad Jackson, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets)

Jackson caught his only pass early in the first quarter.

TE Ben Watson, Rec: 4 - 54 - 0 (9 targets)

Watson led the Patriots in targets and receiving yards. He was targeted on Brady’s second interception.

TE Dave Thomas (2 targets)

Thomas was used primarily as a blocker, but did see two targets, neither of which was completed.

PK Stephen Gostkowski 2 - 3 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points

Gostkowski made both of his PATs and field goals of 49 (a new career high) and 26 yards. He missed a 36 yard attempt near the end of the third quarter.

NE Rush Defense

The rush defense was excellent, giving up only 53 yards and a Joseph Addai touchdown. They allowed only 2.1 yards per attempt.

NE Pass Defense

New England’s pass defense fell victim to the greatness of Peyton Manning. They allowed over 300 yards through the air, and two touchdown strikes to Marvin Harrison. They did manage to sack Manning three times (a season high of sacks allowed by Indianapolis) and intercepted one of his passes.