By Tom James
INDIANAPOLIS — Just call it the Miracle of Lucas Oil Stadium.
Down 24-7 in the second quarter and trailing 31-14 with 14:18 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Indianapolis Colts defied the odds en route to a wild 35-34 come-from-behind victory over the New England Patriots Sunday night.
With a national television audience, along with a franchise-record 67,476 fans, watching in disbelief, the Colts pulled out a win despite not playing one of their better games of the season. Dropped passes, blown pass coverages. It didn’t really matter in the end.
What did matter was Reggie Wayne’s one-yard fingertip grab of a Peyton Manning rocket with 13 seconds remaining in the game. Indianapolis scored on consecutive late scoring drives and succeeded in registering its ninth straight victory of the season and 18th consecutive win dating back to last year.
As it turned out, the key play in the game came when Patriots coach Bill Belichick gambled and went for a first down on fourth-and-two from their own 29-yard line with just over two minutes remaining in the game. A short pass from New England quarterback Tom Brady to running back Kevin Faulk fell inches short, giving Manning and Company just enough time to pull off the comeback victory.
Strong safety Melvin Bullitt made the tackle. It initially appeared as if Faulk had bobbled the ball. But the play was ruled a catch, albeit one that fell just short.
The win marked the second time in four seasons that the Colts rallied from a big halftime deficit to defeat New England. Belichick’s team had a 21-3 lead in the 2006 AFC championship game only to drop a 38-34 decision that sent Indianapolis to Super Bowl XLI
“We’ve been through so of these battles around here. Nobody panicked [despite the Colts trailing for most of the game],” Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell said afterward. As for Belichick’s decision to go for broke on fourth down late in the game, Caldwell refused to second guess his Patriots counterpart.
“You elect to do what’s best for your team,” the Colts coach said.
The Colts just kept plugging away in the fourth quarter, chipping away at the Patriots lead. A 29-yard pass from Manning to wide receiver Pierre Garcon with 12:14 left in the game narrowed the margin to 31-21. Stephen Gostkowski’s 36-yard field goal pushed the New England advantage to 34-21.
Joseph Addai, though, scored on a four-yard run with 2:23 remaining in the game to bring Indianapolis to within 34-28. And then the fun started.
Manning completed 28-of-44 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns in the game. Wayne has 10 catches for 126 yards and two TDs. Brady, meanwhile, hit on 29-of-42 passes for 375 yards and four touchdown passes. Randy Moss had nine receptions for 179 yards and two TDs.
New England got it rolling in the first half, taking a 24-14 lead into the locker room at halftime. Brady fired a pair of touchdown passes, a 63-yarder to Moss early in the second quarter and later added a nine-yard scoring toss to backup receiver Julian Edelman.
After Indianapolis had jumped to a 7-0 lead on a 15-yard pass from Manning to Addai with 8:15 left in the first quarter, the Patriots proceeded to score on five consecutive possessions with five plays over 20 yards.
Running back Laurence Maroney’s one-yard run late in the first quarter tied the score and Gostkowski’s 31-yard field goal at the 13:15 mark of the second quarter gave New England a 10-7 lead. Touchdown passes to Moss and Edelman pushed the Patriots advantage to 24-7.
The Colts, though, managed to narrow the margin to 24-14 on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Wayne with 4:17 left in the half. The Indianapolis quarterback connected with Wayne three times on the drive.
A five-yard pass from Brady to Moss early in the fourth quarter pushed the New England advantage to 31-14.
Colts 35, Patriots 34
At Lucas Oil Stadium
New England 7 17 0 10 — 34
Indianapolis 7 7 0 21 — 35
Ind—Addai 15 pass from Manning (Stover kick)
NE—Maroney 1 run (Gostkowski kick)
NE—FG Gostkowski 31
NE—Moss 63 pass from Brady (Gostkowski kick)
NE—Edelman 9 pass from Brady (Gostkowski kick)
Ind—Wayne 20 pass from Manning (Stover kick)
NE—Moss 5 pass from Brady (Gostkowski kick)
Ind—Garcon 29 pass from Manning (Stover kick)
NE—FG Gostkowski 36
Ind—Addai 4 run (Stover kick)
Ind—Wayne 1 pass from Manning (Stover kick)
NE Ind
First downs 24 25
Total Net Yards 477 407
Rushes-yards 28-113 18-91
Passing 364 316
Punt Returns 5-117 0-0
Kickoff Returns 3-82 4-90
Interceptions Ret. 2-17 1-19
Comp-Att-Int 29-42-1 28-44-2
Sacked-Yards Lost 2-11 1-11
Punts 4-44.0 7-48.4
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 4-72 3-20
Time of Possession 35:02 24:58
RUSHING—New England, Faulk 12-79, Maroney 13-31, Brady 3-3. Indianapolis, Addai 10-41, Simpson 4-36, Brown 4-14.
PASSING—New England, Brady 29-42-1-375. Indianapolis, Manning 28-44-2-327.
RECEIVING—New England, Moss 9-179, Welker 9-94, Stanback 2-17, Maroney 2-15, Edelman 2-14, Baker 2-13, Faulk 2-7, Watson 1-36. Indianapolis, Wayne 10-126, Collie 6-45, Clark 4-65, Garcon 3-50, Addai 2-27, Robinson 2-6, Brown 1-8.
