Indianapolis Colts hammer out victory over Washington Redskins
Washington had a few good opportunities against the Colts to take charge but they ultimately lost the game. There was no dominant team between the two and the final outcome could have tilted towards either side in just one play. It was a contest of consistency
as much as it was of skill. The Colts proved to be the better team. The road win for Indianapolis brings their tally to 4 win and 2 losses. They now rank third in the AFC South while the 3-3-0 Redskins also stand third in the NFC East.
Redskins put up a tremendous fight against the Colts even though they started off terribly. The first drive for Washington’s quarterback, Donovan McNabb ended in a disaster. On Indianapolis’ 37 yard line, McNabb aimed for the Redskins’ top receiver, Santana
Moss but was intercepted. Colts’ cornerback, Jerraud Powers was shadowing Moss and took the ball when McNabb threw the pass. Moss was tackled and Powers ran 11 yards for the Colts.
Colts’ quarterback, Peyton Manning isn’t the kind of person to let such a turnover go waste. Manning was off to a slow start before and had to punt in the first drive after the Colts moved from 19 to only the 23 yard line in 3 down. This time though, he
would settle for nothing short of a touchdown. Manning threw a 57 yards touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon. He passed deep right as Garcon raced ahead of his pursuers and caught the pass without any hiccups to run into the end zone for a touchdown.
As if the interception wasn’t enough, as soon as McNabb came back on the field, he was sacked for 8 yards by Colts’ linebacker, Pat Angerer. Washington started that drive on the 14 yard line but by the third down, they had been pushed back to 5 yard line
and took the punt.
The Redskins’ defence was focussing purely on Manning and was proving to be quite successful, at least in the start anyway. When Manning came back after Washington’s punt, the defence made sure he couldn’t complete any passes and forced a punt out of the
Colts.
Near the end of first quarter, McNabb finally came through with the equalizer. The quarterback made a strong comeback as he passed 63 yards in 6 attempts while being supported by Ryan Torain with 17 yards rushing. Starting on 11 yard line, McNabb quickly
made it into the Colts’ red zone and scored a touchdown for the Redskins with a 9 yard touchdown pass to Torain.
The first quarter ended with 7 against 7 and Indianapolis on the offensive. Manning made small gains with each attempt and kept ahead of the down. Starting on the 16 yard line, the quarterback led the offense up to 5 yard line 11 plays. From there, Manning
threw the touchdown pass at Austin Collie up the middle.
When Colts again came back on the offense, the yards kept coming. Manning pulled the team from 14 to Washington’s 28 in 7 plays. Fearing that another touchdown was imminent, the Redskins' defence upped the ante and in the next 3 plays, kept manning from
breaking into the red zone. At 20 yard line, the Colts got into field goal formation and the attempt was unsuccessful. Adam Vinatieri kicked the ball but the 38 yard field goal was not successful. Vinatieri would vindicate himself next time though. Manning
got the Colts within 25 yards of touchdown but when the drive slowed down, Indianapolis tried the field goal again. Vinatieri this time had to kick 43 yards yet the attempt was successful.
The Redskins tried their hand at the field goal too but Graham Gano’s 48 yard field goal attempt was no good. The ball went wide off the post.
In the final 30 seconds, Washington took the offensive from 38 yard line after the failed field goal attempt. There wasn’t enough time for a touchdown without an amazing play but Manning made sure to get close enough to be able to try the field goal. With
just six seconds remaining, the Colts made the field goal attempt; however it was blocked by Washington’s Brandon Banks.
The 2nd quarter ended with Colts leading by 17 against Washington’s 7 from the first quarter touchdown.
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