The Colts dragged themselves out of a 10-0 hole dug in the first 4 minutes of play to a halftime lead, but their depleted roster just couldn’t keep pace with a very good Eagles team. An injury to Collie early narrowed the Colts “skill position” options to Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garçon, Blair White, Jacob Tamme, Gijon Robinson, (converted G/C) Jacques McClendon, Donald Brown and Jarravis James. With a limited stock of offensive weapons Peyton struggled to find outlets as the Eagles applied heavy pressure. On the defensive side of the ball the Colts uncharacteristically gave up several long plays including runs of 62 and 32 yards by McCoy and Vick and receptions of 58, 34 and 22 yards by Jackson, Avant and Maclin.
The Colts running game was ineffective with 62 yards on 19 carries and Peyton was sacked 3 times, picked off twice with the OL struggling against a good pass rush featuring heavy blitzing. Drops reemerged as an issue with Garçon and Tamme the most notable offenders, though Tamme’s day on the whole was quite good with 10 receptions for 101 yards and a TD.
With the kind of injuries the Colts have you just can’t spot a very good team 10 points and win. The fact that the Colts can play down this many players and start off the game so poorly, but still be driving for a winning FG on the road shows the caliber of team we have this year. The Colts are a very good team. They just have to get healthier and/or make fewer mistakes and they can take anyone in the league this year.
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