On the first play of the drive, Peyton Manning tossed a short pass to his left to Joseph Addai, who bobbled the ball before being brutally hammered by Dunta Robinson and what seemed like half the Texans defense. We would have collapsed like babies and cried for Mommy once we regained consciousness. But Addai held on to the ball, somewhat miraculously.The gritty-tough play seemed to inspire the Indy offense: they covered the remaining 85 yards in just seven plays and Manning capped the drive with a 6-yard TD toss to Dallas Clark. The Colts took a 21-20 lead.The Texans took over on the ensuing drive at their own 20 with plenty of time to score and to win.On the first play of the drive, Matt Schaub hit wide-open running back Vonta Leach in roughly the same space that Manning had hit Addai – short and to his left – on the first play of the previous drive.Leach, with nobody around him, dropped the ball.You could feel the air gush out of the stadium and out of the Houston offense, as if it were a puppy drop-kicked in the sternum by George Gipp. Schaub’s next pass was picked off and returned for a touchdown by linebacker Clint Session.Game over. Two plays by two teams in the space of three minutes that perfectly illustrated the differences between these two organizations.
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