The Colts 18-14 victory on Sunday proved something about the team: that they can win without playing well. They were sloppy at best on offense and the defense didn’t fare much better. San Francisco scored more touchdowns, had more sacks and had a 100% red zone efficiency rate. Peyton Manning was inaccurate and looked more uncomfortable in the pocket than he has all year. His budding synergy with the young receivers looked broken and ineffective on this day. Much of this credit belongs to the players and coaches of the 49ers. Their defensive game plan to get pressure on Manning was effective, as that is really the only way to get Peyton off his game. This is the strategy employed by most of the defenses to have beaten him multiple times (The Chargers, Patriots or Steelers) and the 49ers were able to succeed, mostly. They were not, however, effective in stopping the quarterback play of Colts running back Joeseph Addai. Addai’s 22 yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter put the Colts ahead for good and won the game. It is rare that a trick play like that will be the deciding factor in the outcome of the game. It was all in a day’s work for the Colts though, who run their record to 7-0 for the fourth time in five seasons.
Colts Win Despite Porous defense and Spotty Offense
Advertisement
