Indianapolis Colts 27 – Miami Dolphins 23: It’s probably going to be a good night when your first play is an 80-yard strike that puts you up 6-0. Peyton Manning only took 12 seconds to get his team the lead, turning a play action pass into an unexpected touchdown to Dallas Clark, who made it to pay dirt thanks to very poor tackling in the Miami secondary.Manning finished with 303 yards and two touchdowns.
Playing without #2 receiver Anthony Gonzalez, Manning used his sure target Clark seven times (eight targets) for an astonishing, at least for a tight end, 183 yards and a touchdown. Peyton also made use of Reggie Wayne, who I have as the fifth best receiver in football, but not as much as last week. Wayne finished with three grabs for 37 yards.
Despite these contributions for the veterans on the squad, perhaps the biggest play of the night came from a second year player, Pierre Garcon, who caught a 48-yard touchdown pass with 3:18 to go in the game, giving the Colts a 27-23 lead. Also of note: Austin Collie, who I think will turn up big in the coming weeks, only had one grab for four yards.
The Dolphins had a chance to win the game, especially on this pass from Chad Pennington to Ted Ginn Jr. that the former ninth overall pick dropped in the end zone, but they came up short. Other than the final play of the game, in which Pennington was picked in the end zone on a hail mary pass, the Miami QB was his usual self. Chad used quick passes and the running game to run the offense effectively. Pennington was 22 of 33 for 183 yards.
Most of Miami’s production came from the run game. Ronnie Brown topped 100 yards – 136 to be exact – on 24 carries with a couple of scores while running the ever so talked about Wildcat formation. Ricky Williams added 69 yards that came mostly on trick plays.
Ted Ginn Jr., despite dropping the game-winning pass, had a pretty solid game. He was targeted 16 times and he caught 11 of them for 108 yards. On four different occasions, Pennington used Ginn as his go to man in third down situations.
The Colts continue to look better and better, and I think the AFC South may end up being the best division in the NFL when it is all said and done. I like the pass rush Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis bring, both had a sack last night, and their secondary is solid right now without Bob Sanders.
As long as their running game can come along, Joseph Addai had 32 yards on six carries (5.3 ypc) and rookie Donald Brown had 26 yards and a touchdown on four rushes (6.5 ypc) Monday night, they will have a complete offensive attack. Those numbers might not look impressive, but the yards per carry average is good and that’s what matters in a game that your offense only has the ball for 14 minutes and 53 seconds in. That, by the way, is a modern day record. That Peyton Manning is a clock magician.
