Colts drop Jags to win eighth straight

On the first day of November, the Indianapolis Colts were 3-4 on the season following a loss to the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football.   Some observers began to write the team off as being mired in an inevitable disappointing season, while others began to write the competitive obituaries for Peyton Manning and crew.  It was all premature, and the Colts haven’t lost since.  Down 24-14 heading into the 4th quarter at Jacksonville on Thursday night, Indy scored the final 17 points of the game to win their eighth straight game as the defeated the Jaguars 31-24.

Not surprisingly, the catalyst behind the Colts’ late season renaissance has been Peyton Manning who has regained his MVP form after a slow start.  On Thursday night, Manning completed 29 of his 34 attempts for 364 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions.  His Jacksonville counterpart, David Gerrard, also played well as he racked up 329 yards on 28 of 41 passing with a touchdown and interception.  The Jaguars held the edge in most of the major statistical categories—first downs, total yardage and time of possession—except for the one that really counts:  the final score.

Colts’ coach Tony Dungy was effusive in his praise of Manning after the game:

"Peyton Manning is unbelievable. He put a lot of it on his shoulders and kept us in it. He played unbelievably under the circumstances. All in all, with everything that was riding on it ... it was a great performance. It was an MVP performance for sure."

The Colts’ offense tied the game at 24-24 late, but it took a defensive play to secure victory.  Keiwan Ratliff intercepted a pass from David Gerrard with just over four minutes remaining and returned it 35 yards for the game winning TD.  Jacksonville had one more shot to tie the game, but Gerrard was sacked on the final play to cement the Colts victory.  After the game, Gerrard was visibly upset with himself:

"Just can't take a sack right there. I really didn't see it and have an opportunity to elude that guy. I thought I had guys coming open."

The victory locked up a playoff berth for Indianapolis, making it seven straight years in the post season for the Colts.  They’ve now got a ten day break before their final game of the season on 12/28, when they’ll host the Tennessee Titans.  Jacksonville dropped to 5-10 and will try to conclude the season on a winning note on 12/28 when they travel to Baltimore to play the Ravens.