Youthful Hasselbeck leads Colts to 25-12 win over Buccaneers

Matt Hasselbeck the 40-year-old veteran has now won three games as the Colts starting quarterback, and will play again on Sunday in place of Andrew Luck.

Somewhere, Jameis Winston was born.

“We’re just playing team football, and I’m just trying to not screw it up, ” Hasselbeck said after passing for a season-high 315 yards and two touchdowns to T.Y. Hilton in a 25-12 win over the Bucs. After four quarters, they trailed the Colts 25-12. I could talk about how fantastic Adam Vinatieri has been this year or how the defense has really stepped up recently, both of which deserve credit and recognition. I think that’s just the unselfish attitude that we have.

On paper, the contrast is stark.

The Colts have played well with Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback, and that trend has to continue if the Colts want to win the AFC South. It’s just a hunch, but I like the Colts to win by at least three. Matt Hasselbeck was a freshman at Boston College University.

This was a game that was headlined as a matchup between the youngest quarterback in the National Football League versus the oldest.

Winston finished 20 of 36 for 245 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

“They were just a better team”, Bucs LT Donovan Smith said.

On the field, it’s serious stuff.

Tampa set a franchise record with 283 yards rushing and its 521 total yards were second-most in franchise history in the regular season. These two 5-5 teams both have playoffs aspirations with their quarterbacks as the focus.

Winston has a bad habit of focusing only on Evans, which is why he’s been targeted 94 times this season, almost twice as much as the next player.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers received notice that rookie linebacker Kwon Alexander has been suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. They had only six in their previous four games. Hilton catches in the third quarter looked to be on Sterling Moore and Bradley McDougald as they left some gaping holes in coverage. But coach Chuck Pagano isn’t saying who will start.

Bucs running back Doug Martin had 14 carries for 97 yards. He’s hit the 100-plus yards mark in four of their 10 games, meaning he isn’t the model of consistency (but he is coming off a 235 yard game vs the Eagles). There’s no doubt that Moncrief has surpassed Andre Johnson as the Colts’ number two wide receiver, and it’s easy to see why.