Redskins look good, but the Colts look better

It has been a long time since Indianapolis had gone to the nation’s capital and won a football game but Sunday night was their night. It always seems that in primetime games teams show up and play some of the best football of the season and this game was no different. Washington coming into the game was at 3-2 through 5 games and if we all remember this team only won 4 games all of last season, hence the effect of Donovan McNabb and Mike Shanahan, it is a proven fact that winners know how to win and they know how to rebound after a tough loss. Washington is a different team this season and if they get quality play from the defensive side of the ball they could double the wins from last season. For Indianapolis a big win last week versus Kansas City, I believe, set the ball in motion for the Colts. In the first 5 games of the season the Colts were also at 3-2 but the losses were to divisional opponents and that for most teams is a difficult thing to rebound from, but as I said before I think this could be the start of a classic Indianapolis run to the playoffs. Peyton and the offense are definitely on a roll and scoring almost at will, but they must clean up the dropped passes and continue to establish the run, for the defense they must stop opposing rushing attacks and not give up the big plays if there is another Super Bowl run in the future. And now for the game stats from Sunday night:

In the first quarter Manning and the Colts started the game off with some fireworks as he hit Pierre Garcon for a 57-yard touchdown strike but Washington battled back with a 10 play drive ending with a Ryan Torain 9-yard touchdown rush making the score at the end of the 1 st Indianapolis 7, Washington 7.

In the second quarter it was all Manning and the Colts, first score was on a 12 play drive covering 84 yards ending with an Austin Collie 5-yard touchdown reception and finally before the half Adam Vinatieri tacked on a 43-yard field goal making the score at the half Indy 17, Washington7.

At the start of the third quarter Washington got a much needed score from Ryan Torain as he ran it in from 1-yard out, Indianapolis quickly came back with a Joseph Addai 13-yard touchdown run and just before the end of the third Graham Gano added a 39-yard field goal for Washington and the score at the end of three Indianapolis 24, Washington 17.

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In the fourth quarter you knew it would come down to the wire, with McNabb on one side and Manning on the other it was going to be a shootout. The Colts struck first but couldn’t get in to the end zone so Vinatieri kicked a 33-yard field goal, Washington came right back and added an 8-yard touchdown pass from McNabb to Williams in one of the more impressive drives that covered 92 yards and that was all the scoring for Sunday night the final score Indianapolis 27, Washington 24.

Key Stats:

Indianapolis Colts

Peyton Manning 25 for 38 307 yards 2 touchdowns 0 interceptions

Joseph Addai 17 rushes 128 yards 1 touchdown

Pierre Garcon 4 receptions 103 yards 1 touchdown

Washington Redskins

Donovan McNabb 29 for 45 246 yards 1 touchdown 2 interceptions

Ryan Torain 20 rushes 100 yards 2 touchdowns

Santana Moss 8 receptions 77 yards 0 touchdowns

This was a great game to watch and I was really impressed with the Colts getting the running game going as Joseph Addai and Mike Hart combined for over 160 yards together which opened up the passing attack and if they can do that on a regular basis that will keep Manning clean and will open up the big plays down field. The Colts will be on a bye this coming up week but continue to check back here on profootball-fans.com for all things Colts.

By Sam Adams
ProFootball-fans.com Staff Writer