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| Other Week 12 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUF at KC | CAR at ATL | CHI at STL | CIN at PIT | GB at NO | HOU at CLE | IND at SD | MIN at JAX |
| NE at MIA | NYG at ARI | NYJ at TEN | OAK at DEN | PHI at BAL | SF at DAL | TB at DET | WAS at SEA |
Week 12 Game Recap: Indianapolis Colts 23, San Diego Chargers 20
What you need to know
| Indianapolis Colts |
Peyton Manning had a good night throwing the football and came up big in the fourth quarter when he led the offense on a 38 yard drive with less than 1:30 remaining as he helped set up the game winning 51 yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri. The Indianapolis field general finished the game 32 of 44 for 255 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Manning's touchdown tosses to Anthony Gonzalez and Dominic Rhodes were his 18th and 19th scoring throws of the year.
Joseph Addai led the Indianapolis rushing attack with 70 yards on 16 carries for an average of 4.4 yards per rush. In addition to his production on the ground, the starting running back also totaled an additional 31 yards in the passing game. Dominic Rhodes amassed 42 total yards and got into the end zone when he hauled in a one yard touchdown pass.
Anthony Gonzalez was targeted nine times in this contest as he hauled in six passes for a team high 95 yards. His second quarter score was his third of the year and tied the game at 10. Marvin Harrison also caught six passes in this game that went for 44 yards, while Reggie Wayne had a quiet game grabbing only two passes.
Jeff Saturday left the game in the first half with what was reported as a calf injury and did not return.
| San Diego Chargers |
Down two scores in the fourth quarter the Chargers put up ten unanswered points to tie the game in the final period, but they were unable to get the win as the Colts kicked a game winning field goal as time expired. Philip Rivers completed over 77% of his 31 passing attempts for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Despite the impressive numbers through the air, Rivers did have a costly fumble that turned the ball over with San Diego operating from the Indianapolis 14 yard line.
For the ninth time this season, LaDainian Tomlinson failed to go over 100 yards on the ground as the running back finished the game rushing for 84 yards on 21 attempts. Without his two longer runs of 12 and 20 yards, he averaged a paltry 2.3 yards per rush. Tomlinson did contribute in the passing game by hauling in three passes that went for 30 yards.
San Diego wide outs combined to catch ten passes that went for 172 yards and a touchdown. Chris Chambers led the way with six receptions for 61 yards while Vincent Jackson caught two passes for 57 yards. One of Jackson's catches was a 39 yard score that gave the Chargers a 10--3 lead. Tight end Antonio Gates had only 28 receiving yards on three catches.
What you ought to know
| QB Peyton Manning, Pass: 32 - 44 - 255 - 2 TD / 1 INT |
Manning finished the first two quarters completing 16 passes that went for 133 yards with one touchdown and one interception. On the interception, WR Marvin Harrison was open down the deep middle of the field, but the pass was under thrown and it was picked off by Chargers' CB Quentin Jammer. Prior to that pass, the quarterback had thrown 140 passes without an interception. Manning came back after the turnover and led the Colts on a touchdown scoring drive that ended with a 13 yard scoring toss to WR Anthony Gonzalez. The Indianapolis signal caller led the offense on three scoring drives in the second half, with the only touchdown coming when he hooked up with RB Dominic Rhodes for a one yard touchdown pass. On the drive that set up the game winning field goal, Manning was four of six for 36 yards as he moved the Colts to the Chargers' 33 yard line.
| RB Joseph Addai, Rush: 16 - 70 - 0, Rec: 7 - 31 - 0 (10 targets) |
Addai's longest gain of the game came in the second quarter when on a third and one play he busted through the line, cut back against the grain, and picked up 23 yards. On the team's first drive of the second half, the running back got five consecutive touches (one rush and four receptions) that he turned into 20 yards. Despite the heavy work load early on in the drive, it was Dominic Rhodes who was in the game later on the series when the Colts moved inside the Chargers' ten yard line.
| RB Dominic Rhodes, Rush: 7 - 21 - 0, Rec: 5 - 21 - 1 (6 targets) |
Rhodes had little success rushing the football as he averaged only 3.0 yards on seven attempts, but he did contribute in the passing game. On a third and five play with just over two minutes left in the second quarter, the running back caught a pass that went for a gain of 13 yards that helped extend a drive that set up the team's first touchdown. Later on in the game Rhodes got five consecutive touches with the team inside the San Diego ten yard line and finally got into the end zone when he caught a one yard touchdown pass while split out wide.
| RB Chad Simpson |
Though he got no touches on offense, Simpson averaged 24 yards on four kickoff returns.
| WR Marvin Harrison, Rec: 6 - 44 - 0 (8 targets) |
Harrison caught his first three targets for a total of 23 yards, but the fourth pass his way was intercepted. His next two grabs went for a total of only seven yards, but he had a big catch on the team's game winning, field goal drive when he hauled in a 14 yard pass on a fourth and one play that took the ball down to the San Diego 34 yard line.
| WR Anthony Gonzalez, Rec: 6 - 95 - 1 (9 targets) |
In addition to leading the team in receiving yards, Gonzalez also seemed to be QB Peyton Manning's favorite target when a play had to be made. Of his six catches, five of them moved the sticks and the other one went for a 13 yard touchdown reception. Four of Gonzalez's grabs came on third down plays.
| WR Reggie Wayne, Rec: 2 - 34 - 0 (4 targets) |
Wayne's first target of the game came on a third and one play that went for a 26 yard gain down the middle of field. His only other catch went for eight yards as he took the ball down to the Chargers' five yard line. Though he would not catch another pass, Wayne did draw a 17 yard pass interference penalty that gave the Colts a first down.
| TE Dallas Clark, Rec: 6 - 30 - 0 (8 targets) |
Clark turned his eight targets into six catches, but he only recorded 30 yards in the receiving game. His long gain of the game came in the third quarter and went for a pickup of eight.
| PK Adam Vinatieri 3 - 3 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 11 points |
Vinatieri made good on field goal attempts from 23, 38, and 51 yards. His 51 yarder came as time expired and gave the Colts the 23--20 victory. Vinatieri also converted on both of his point after attempts.
| IND Rush Defense |
The Colts' rush defense allowed the Chargers' running game to gain 120 yards on 25 attempts for an average of 4.8 yards per carry. San Diego RB LaDainian Tomlinson received two rushes with the Chargers operating inside the Indianapolis five yard line, but the defense kept the running back from getting into the end zone.
| IND Pass Defense |
Indianapolis allowed Philip Rivers to complete 24 passes for 288 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. DE Robert Mathis forced and recovered a fumble of Rivers in the third quarter when he sacked the quarterback with the Chargers operating from the Colts 14 yard line. Mathis and DT Eric Foster combine to record a second sack later on in the third quarter.
| QB Philip Rivers, Pass: 24 - 31 - 288 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - 15 - 0 |
Rivers gave the Chargers a 10--3 lead in the second quarter when he threw a perfect deep ball to WR Vincent Jackson that went for a 39 yard touchdown pass. Down ten in the fourth quarter, the San Diego quarterback led the offense on a 12 play, 70 yard drive that he capped with a one yard touchdown toss to RB Jacob Hester. On the drive, Rivers was seven for seven for 47 yards and also had a nine yard rush that went for a first down. The San Diego signal caller followed that up with a field goal tying series in when he completed five of seven passes for 63 yards as he moved the offense down to the Indianapolis 29 yard line. Rivers' two scoring throws were his 22nd and 23rd touchdowns of the year.
| RB LaDainian Tomlinson, Rush: 21 - 84 - 0, Rec: 3 - 30 - 0 (6 targets) |
Though Tomlinson averaged 4.0 yards per rush and had longer runs of 12 and 20 yards, the running back seemed to have a rough time finding daylight to run to. Of his 21 runs, 13 went for three yards or less and he failed to get into the end zone despite getting two rushes inside the Indianapolis five yard line. Tomlinson did average ten yards on the three receptions, but he had a big drop on San Diego's final series as the Chargers drove to try to tie or win the game.
| RB Darren Sproles, Rush: 2 - 21 - 0, Rec: 2 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
Sproles' long gain of the game came when he picked up 20 yards on a third quarter run. In addition to his touches on offense, he averaged 20 yards on five kick returns and returned one punt for four yards.
| RB Jacob Hester, Rec: 3 - 16 - 1 (3 targets) |
All three of Hester's catches came on the same fourth quarter drive. The one yard touchdown reception was the first of his career.
| RB Mike Tolbert (1 targets) |
Tolbert's only target fell to the ground incomplete.
| WR Chris Chambers, Rec: 6 - 61 - 0 (6 targets) |
Chambers led all Chargers' pass catches with six catches for 61 yards as he hauled in all the passes that were thrown his way. Half of his catches came in the first two quarters when he totaled 22 yards in the passing game. The biggest of Chambers' three catches in the second half came on the team's final drive when he caught a pass that went for a pickup of 18 yards.
| WR Malcom Floyd, Rec: 2 - 54 - 0 (3 targets) |
Floyd was targeted on a deep ball on the team's first series, but the pass was a little overthrown and fell incomplete. His first catch went for a big gain when the wide receiver made a nice leaping catch down the sideline on a third and two play that went for a pickup of 31 yards. Floyd's only other catch went for longer pickup of 23.
| WR Vincent Jackson, Rec: 2 - 57 - 1 (2 targets) |
Jackson's first catch of the game went for a 39 yard touchdown. On the play, he made a nice leaping catch in the midst of a number of Colts' defenders and was able to get the ball across the goal line for the score. His only other reception came in the fourth quarter and went for a gain of 18 yards.
| TE Antonio Gates, Rec: 3 - 28 - 0 (4 targets) |
Gates' first catch came near the start of the second quarter and went for a pickup of 13 yards. His second catch didn't come until just over three minutes were remaining in the third quarter and went for a gain of nine. Gates final catch of the game came in the fourth quarter and went for six yards.
| TE Brandon Manumaleuna, Rec: 3 - 29 - 0 (3 targets) |
Manumaleuna caught all three passes thrown his way for an average of 9.6 yards per reception. His third reception came on San Diego's final drive and set up the game tying field as he took the ball down to the Indianapolis 29 yard line.
| PK Nate Kaeding 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Kaeding made his first field goal attempt from 35 yards out and then was good from 47 yards when he tied the game at 20 with 1:30 left in the game. He also converted both of his point after attempts.
| SD Rush Defense |
Indianapolis totaled 91 yards on the ground on 23 rushes for an average of just 4.0 yards per attempt. The rush defense came up with a big stop on a third and one run that got the Chargers the ball back with a little over three minutes left in the game.
| SD Pass Defense |
Peyton Manning completed 32 passes that went for 255 yards and two touchdowns. The Chargers did record one sack and CB Quentin Jammer intercepted a pass in the second quarter.
