“He’s obviously a great player,” quarterback Peyton Manning said after directing 19 of his 46 passes at Wayne. “He made some big catches for us, a huge one coming out of our own end zone.”Faced with a first-and-10 at his 4 early in the fourth quarter, Manning’s 21-yard hookup with Wayne provided breathing room. The completion kick-started an 11-play, 96-yard drive that ended with Joseph Addai’s 2-yard touchdown that tied the score at 21.
Pass Defense: D
Granted, the numbers weren’t overwhelming: David Garrard was 17-of-22 for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Not Kyle Orton-esque. But the Colts turned him into Bart Starr, allowing him to produce a 127.7 quarterback rating. Keep in mind, Garrard was staring at the abyss, so bad the past two weeks the Jags signed Bills castoff Trent Edwards. Last week, Garrard was sacked six times by the Eagles. And I dare you to name a single Jags receiver without peeking. A week ago, everybody screamed about the lack of a pass rush, but the Broncos were in maximum protection all game. Those struggles fell on the secondary, and so did this one. Kelvin Hayden will see that would-be pick in his sleep.
Scobee has seven game-winning field goals in an NFL career of six-plus seasons. Three have come against the Colts; each traveled more than 50 yards. He made a 51-yarder at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008 and a 53-yarder at the RCA Dome in 2004.“Yeah, I knew,” Scobee said when asked his immediate reaction after striking the football on a franchise-record kick.
The overarching problem is glaring: This defense is somewhere between bad and terrible. And there’s no real solid explanation for it. They returned all 11 starters from last year’s rock-solid group. They are playing their second year under defensive coordinator Larry Coyer. They’ve had some injuries — they lost Melvin Bullitt to a shoulder injury Sunday — but in the past, they’ve always been able to plug holes, find a way, make a play.
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