Carolina Panthers: Lessons from Colts-Saints

“That first half, the way that we played, that’s unacceptable”, he said.

Make no mistake, however: this one bore the stench of low tide.

The level of tension and frustration for the Indianapolis Colts may be reaching a boiling point after Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints dropped the team’s record to 3-4. They sacked Andrew Luck four times, intercepted him twice and had him pressured all game long en route to a 27-21 win, the team’s second victory in a row. Their offense can’t move the chains. But this was about much more than a curtain call for the Purdue alum. And when that one man is wobbling, no one else is capable of keeping things from falling apart.

This time it was a fake field goal at the end of the first quarter when the game was still scoreless.

But Luck turned things around with third-quarter touchdown passes of 87 and 46 yards to T.Y. Hilton, which cut a 27-0 deficit to 27-14, and then threw an 8-yard TD pass to Donte Moncrief with 3:05 left in the game to make it 27-21. Again, Frank Gore looked good with 43 yards on nine carries.

Vontae Davis had two interceptions but only one counted.

I was there in 2005 when he ended the Colts’ first run at an undefeated season with San Diego. “We knew what type of game it was going to be no matter how they were playing in the first half”. Holder and backup quarterback Luke McCown instead threw a 25-yard pass to Ben Watson. And if Santa Claus misses chimneys as bad as Luck has been missing open receivers, he’s going to have a few painful falls.

The Saints dominated every aspect of the ball shutting out the Colts in the first half. So with the takeaway erased, Robinson collected ten yards on the next two plays, one of which was a six-yard score, to increase the Saints’ advantage to 14. “Chuck Pagano would not do it today”, said Wells. “You’re not going to win – it’s hard enough to win football games when you don’t shoot yourself in the foot – you’re not going to win many football games in the National Football League when you turn the ball over and you have penalties and you have miscues and you have the errors that happened in special teams, inability at times to stop the run and couldn’t run it”. Luck was 9-for-19 passing with a 19.3 passer rating in the first half before picking up the pace in the second to finish 28 of 44 for 255 yards and two touchdowns.

“Sure, you hear them, I guess”, Luck said.

Brandin Cooks led the Saints receivers with 81 yards on six catches, including a huge 47-yard reception on a deep sideline route with the Saints backed up near their own end zone in the fourth quarter.

Mark Ingram averaged 10.2 yards per carry against the Colts. On his two longest gains, of 44 and 35 yards, he produced more rushing yards than the Colts (75). Their first-round pick in 2013, defensive end Bjoern Werner, may very well be released or traded after this season. He now has a team-high eight penalties, including five holds.

This is what the Saints need to do to sustain a successful season: A potent running game.

Isn’t that stunning? Luck’s numbers (27 of 97 touchdowns coming with team up or down by three scores) are double that of his top contemporaries.

LANDOVER, Md. – Kirk Cousins threw three second-half touchdown passes, including the go-ahead score with 24 seconds left, to lead Washington to the largest comeback in franchise history. All Luck wanted was one more chance. Indianapolis rookie WR Phillip Dorsett suffered an ankle injury during the second quarter, and while he walked off the field under his own power, he did not return.