Sep 16, 2007, 20:23 GMT
Nashville, TN - Peyton Manning threw for 312 yards with a touchdown, but had to watch from the sideline as the Indianapolis defense stopped a potential last-minute drive from Vince Young, as the Colts held on for a 22-20 victory over the Tennessee Titans at LP Field.
The Titans had a chance to pull it out, taking over on their own 20 with 1:37 to play following a punt. Young moved the offense across midfield with less than 30 seconds remaining, but a third-down pass was dropped by Brandon Jones and the second-year quarterback couldn't escape an Indianapolis blitz on fourth down.
'There were big plays needed at the end. Our defense saved the day,' said Colts head coach Tony Dungy.
Young finished the contest 17-of-27 for 184 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. He also ran for 53 yards on five scrambles for the Titans (1-1), who won their opener on the road last week at Jacksonville.
Manning completed 28-of-42 passes with an interception for the Colts (2-0), who have won their opening two games for the third straight season. Marvin Harrison had six receptions for 87 yards, while Dallas Clark hauled in seven passes for 69 yards with a score in the victory.
'We're fortunate to get out of here with a win,' Manning remarked. 'In games like this, you've got try to find a way to win.'
The Titans, who ran for 282 yards in last week's 13-10 victory, picked up 141 on Sunday. Chris Brown had 175 yards last week, but was limited to just 34 on 12 carries in this game. LenDale White led the Titans with 64 yards on 15 carries and scored a touchdown.
Adam Vinatieri had a rough day for the Colts, as he had an extra point blocked and missed a field goal. He also had a field goal try that went through partially blocked.
Vinatieri's 36-yard miss with just under 12 1/2 minutes left led to a Titans touchdown drive that made it a 22-20 game.
After a sack to start the series, a pass interference penalty kept it alive on a third-down incomplete pass. Brown and White then did most of the work on the ground, setting up Young's one-yard touchdown pass to Roydell Williams with 6:02 to play.
The Colts took more than four minutes off the clock and forced Tennessee to burn a pair of timeouts before punting it away, setting up Young's final drive that came up short.
'We're not taking any moral victories out of this one,' said Titans defensive lineman Corey Simon.
Indy's defense showed its form from the 41-10 win over New Orleans in the first week of the season on this game's first drive, stopping Brown short of a first down on 4th-and-1 from the Colts 44.
Manning took over with a short field and needed just five plays to reach the end zone. He converted 3rd-and-6 with a pass to Clark, then hit Harrison down the right sideline for 37 yards to set up Joseph Addai's eight-yard scoring run. The extra point was blocked, leaving it 6-0.
After a trade of punts, the Titans went to the air on first down and Young found Williams behind the defense for a 48-yard play. But the Colts stopped the next three plays and Tennessee had to settle for a 30-yard field goal from Rob Bironas.
Manning responded with a 10-play series for another touchdown. Reggie Wayne converted a 3rd-and-5 with a 20-yard catch early in the first minute of the second quarter and Clark capped the 76-yard march with a 22-yard touchdown reception to increase the lead to 13-3.
Young then engineered a 12-play drive, but again the Indy defense stiffened when it had to forced a 36-yard field goal from Bironas to trim the margin to seven with 4:23 left in the half.
Following another trade of punts, the Colts started from their own 17 with 1:12 on the clock. Manning quickly marched the offense inside the Tennessee 10, but a third-down pass into the end zone fell incomplete with just one second left. It was enough time for Vinatieri to kick a 22-yard field goal to make it 16-6 heading to the break.
'How do you give them one second left?' Simon questioned about the home team clock operator.
The Colts took the second-half kickoff and marched from their own 35 to the Tennessee eight, but a false start and a sack eventually forced a 39-yard Vinatieri field goal.
Tennessee took advantage of a Manning interception on Indianapolis' next series. Wayne was knocked off his route past the five-yard limit without a call and Cortland Finnegan picked off the pass to give the offense great field position at the Indy 15.
White did the rest, finishing the three-play series with a three-yard touchdown run to pull the Titans within 19-13. Vinatieri then tacked on a 20- yard field goal on the final play of the third quarter to increase the lead to nine. The kick was partially blocked and barely made it over the crossbar, but it proved to be the margin of victory.
'He hit a couple of low balls,' Dungy stated about his usually-reliable kicker. 'One got blocked and he missed one he ordinarily makes. But other guys came up big.'
Game Notes
The Colts played without injured starting linebackers Freddie Keiaho (elbow) and Rob Morris (rib)...Manning and the Colts improved to 8-1 against the Titans since the start of the 2003 season...Addai finished with 81 yards on 20 carries, while Wayne hauled in five passes for 70 yards...Jones led the Titans with five catches for 57 yards, while Williams had four receptions for 72 yards.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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