Hasselbeck leads Colts into Atlanta

“Matt, the old seasoned vet, is doing a fantastic job just winning games for us”, Vinatieri said.

The Falcons blew another close game Sunday, surrendering a pair of two-touchdown cushions before losing 24-21 to Indianapolis.

“I don’t look at those as, ‘man we’re struggling, ‘” Shanahan said in the days before the Colts game.

Cross conference rivals clash at the Georgia Dome as the Atlanta Falcons host the Indianapolis Colts in a week 11 clash in the National Football League.

It’s Hasselbeck’s offense: In all likelihood, the Colts’ playoff aspirations are in Matt Hasselbeck’s hands for at least the next month.

MVP candidate Cam Newton was brilliant on the day, completing 21 of 34 throws, for 246 yards with a career-best five touchdown passes and no interceptions. It tied the score at 21 and swung all the energy to Indianapolis. While just a fourth-year player on a team full of veterans, Luck is the on-field general for Indianapolis and the one who the Colts look to when the going gets tough. D’Qwell Jackson, after feigning that he was coming up to stuff the run, dropped back into coverage.

But hey, let’s get back to Reitz, who was walking to his locker and preparing to check his phone, where he fully expected to catch a full ration of abuse from his buddies in Fishers – and elsewhere, I’d imagine.

It’s hard to point the finger at any one thing in Atlanta’s offense as a reason for such ineptitude, but maybe Matt Ryan should take a few blame. “Just fortunate enough to make the play that presented itself and it was a huge play for us to win this game”.

Matt Ryan set a season high with three touchdown passes, but he also threw three interceptions.

Jackson and the defense weren’t done. He is only averaging 16.6 carries and 66.6 rushing yards per game. Local reports indicate that the Colts are planning to “take the reins off” Frank Gore this week, utilizing a relatively rare (for Indy) run-first gameplan on Sunday.

The Colts would then slowly dwindle down the clock with a key “play to win the game” third-down conversion to Donte Moncrief.

Hasselbeck called it the “play to win the game” because that’s usually the case when you call Vinatieri a teammate. Ryan hooked up with DiMarco again in the second quarter, hitting the fullback in the flat on third-and-goal to extend the Falcons’ lead to 14-0 with 8:54 left in the first half. And on the Flacons’ last possession, Coby Fleener made his first career interception to seal the win.

For stretches on Sunday, it wasn’t pretty for the Colts. Yes, you lose your chance to score while giving your opponent getting an additional chance to do so, and you put yourself on the wrong end of a field position swing.

What started as such a promising year has quickly spiraled out of control.

Joe Reitz had the rare opportunity to be a running back for a play, but he turned into a quarterback.

On the other side of the ball, the Colts’ defensive signings have been relatively quiet. Reitz didn’t quite seem to know what to do, rumbling toward the line of scrimmage but opting to slide just short of the first down.