Colts’ offense gets back in sync, stun Broncos

“He just told me that I’ve got to be smarter than that”, Talib said.

The Broncos were denied a shot at perfection, and Peyton Manning’s quest to break a pair of National Football League records was put on hold, following a surprising 27-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts spoiled the Denver Broncos’ flawless season and quarterback Peyton Manning’s potential record-setting day with a 27-24 victory in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Manning threw a touchdown to Owen Daniels in the third quarter to get the game to 24-24, but the Colts ended up winning after an Adam Vinatieri field goal. Darius Butler essentially sealed the deal with a diving interception of a Manning pass with 6 minutes to play. “He came out of that Monday game knowing he wasn’t playing like himself”. But he suffered a sprained ankle on the play and was sidelined for the remainder of the afternoon.

Kubiak continued, “We showed a lot of character getting out of the hole and getting ourselves into position, but we didn’t close the deal”. Positive plays even if drives didn’t end in touchdowns or field goals. “They weren’t ending in interceptions and fumbles”, Luck said afterwards.

“There were a couple of throws there that probably should have been interceptions”. Here are his thoughts: You guys hadn’t lost a game since January (to the Colts in the playoffs), what was the reason tonight? .

“Obviously, our defense has done a great job all year”, Manning said.

“When you don’t play as well as you’d like on the road it’s hard to win against a good football team”, said Manning after the game, “and they are a good football team … we didn’t play our best and ended up not coming away with a win“.

Kubiak added that he had “a long talk” with Aqib Talib on the Sunday night plane flight back from Indianapolis to discuss the infraction, which was one of two committed by Talib in the game’s final moments.

Talib had also been flagged for unnecessary roughness with 2:35 left in the game after he poked his fingers into the eyes of Indianapolis tight end Dwayne Allen.

Luck did the rest.

Will the Broncos offense come out to a quick start as they did against the Packers or will the defense be relied on to carry the load until the offense wakes up later in the game?

Talib will not be permitted to attend team meetings and functions; attend or watch practices; appear at the club’s facilities for any reason; attend press conferences; appear at the team’s November 15 game; or have contact with any club personnel except to arrange off-site medical treatment or rehabilitation. They also left Manning with his first loss of the season and three yards shy of passing Brett Favre for the NFL’s passing record.

In the somewhat-charmed life the Denver Broncos have led this season, the script was in place.

But the game was won on the field and not on paper.

Indianapolis managed to forge a 17-0 first-half lead thanks to a Frank Gore 7-yard touchdown run, a 43-yard Vinatieri field goal and a 3-yard scoring toss to tight end Jack Doyle. “The Colts played well”, Manning said.

Backup free safety Omar Bolden returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown on the first half’s final play, injecting life into a Denver team that sputtered offensively throughout the first 30 minutes.

The scene: Tied at 17 with 4:57 to go in the third quarter, the Colts took over at their own 20-yard line.