Manning, Colts can thank Brackett for perfect 10th victory

BALTIMORE -- So Peyton Manning throws for 299 yards and the Indianapolis Colts win. Welcome to Groundhog Day, people. Only there was something refreshingly different about Indianapolis' latest victory, a 17-15 come-from-behind defeat of the Baltimore Ravens.

This one had more to do with Gary Brackett than it did Peyton Manning.

Jacob Lacey and Tim Jennings celebrate yet another big play by the Indy D. (Getty Images)

Brackett is the Colts' middle linebacker and a starter on one of the most unheralded, underrated and underappreciated defenses in football. That would be the Colts' defense, a group that just preserved the team's seventh straight defeat of Baltimore by stopping the Ravens on three tries from the 1, choking off a last-gasp comeback with an interception and keeping them out of the end zone.

I mention Brackett because he's the guy Manning stopped to congratulate afterward. Smart move, Peyton. Without Brackett, Manning and the Colts don't survive because without Brackett, nobody makes the interception to virtually end this game.

"Obviously," Brackett said, "at the end of the game we needed to make a play, and we got that accomplished."

Fine. Brackett fakes a blitz, drops into coverage and intercepts a pass over the middle intended for running back Ray Rice. It happens. But everything is happening lately with these Colts, which should tell you something about them. One week they survive Houston. The next they turn a Bill Belichick hiccup into a one-point win. Now it's Brackett and the defense holding off a desperate Ravens club when Baltimore absolutely, positively had to make a play.

"They're great gut checks," said Manning. "I kind of knew about our team before, but it tells you there is no sense of panic."

Well, there should be, except it's by the rest of the AFC. The Colts aren't just winning, they're winning by big margins, they're winning by the slimmest of margins and they're winning, winning, winning. When the defense is off, the offense is on. And when the offense sputters, Brackett and his teammates don't.

Lately, they've won small, beating their past four opponents by a total of 10 points -- but that's the sign of something good. Whether it's Manning or Brackett, the Colts always seem to find someone or some way to beat you, and isn't that how you measure the best of the best?

"That's what they say," said wide receiver Reggie Wayne. "We just stick in there and keep playing ball. We don't point any fingers. Whenever the opportunity comes somebody has to step up and make a play. It's been that way since I've been here. It just seems as if there's no panic with this team, and that comes from our overall leader, Coach [Jim) Caldwell."

For the record, Caldwell hasn't lost as a rookie head coach. He's 10-0. He could've lost to Houston. He should've lost to New England. And he could've lost again Sunday. But he didn't, and you start to get the feeling that there is something special going on here, something that we haven't seen from Indianapolis in awhile. I'm not talking about Manning throwing for 300 yards in eight of his 10 starts. Yeah, that's terrific and all that, but the Colts can't rely on Manning to put on the cape every week and rush to the rescue.

And, for once, he didn't have to.

In fact, for the second straight game he had two interceptions. That is not just unusual. It's extraordinary. But this was an afternoon for the extraordinary. Dallas Clark, who had 14 catches in one game this season, had one all day -- a one-handed grab for a touchdown. Manning's favorite wide receiver, Reggie Wayne, did not score. And the Colts, who seldom fumble, lost one at the Baltimore 4 to blow a sure score.

No problem. The Colts' defense stepped in, with no series more important than one early in the fourth quarter. After Baltimore had driven to the Colts 1, the Indianapolis defense stiffened -- stopping a Joe Flacco sneak and two Willis McGahee dives short of the goal line. That forced the Ravens to call on Billy Cundiff for his fifth field goal and, essentially, buried the Ravens.

"With our offense," said safety Antoine Bethea, "nobody is ever going to beat us kicking field goals."

And Baltimore just proved it. But the Ravens have been down this road before, bowing at home to Indianapolis in the 2006 playoffs when neither team produced a touchdown. The Colts prevailed then because their defense made the stops Baltimore did not. Now it has happened again, with Baltimore failing to finish a game it could have won but did not.

Blame it on bad luck or poor aim by Flacco, but you can't ignore what the Indianapolis defense did the final three times it took the field -- hold its opponent to three points on three possessions, all of which went inside the Indianapolis 15.

"That's football," said Wayne. "Every game isn't going to be a game where there are lots of points scored and we pass for 1,000 yards."

Precisely. Which is why you should start embracing these Colts. Somewhere along the line they're going to lose, and maybe it happens next week at Houston. It doesn't matter. It hasn't happened yet, and the Colts are winning as they did in the 2006 playoffs -- calling on someone from the defense when Manning is less than perfect.

Then, it was safety Bob Sanders, whose return plugged big leaks in the Colts' run defense. But Sanders is gone, out with another season-ending injury, and the Colts are left to push on without him, fellow 2006 playoff hero Marlin Jackson and cornerback Kelvin Hayden, who is expected back in another week or two. And they're doing it by calling on a cast of unsung defensive heroes, with Brackett the latest to take a bow.

"We take a lot of pride in what we do," said defensive end Dwight Freeney, "and, obviously, the offense has been what it has been. They're still great. The thing is, defensively we go out there day-in and day-out, practicing to make plays. Other teams that we play don't give us the respect. It's OK. It's fine. We're out there trying to play as hard as possible and, hopefully, get a big win."

I've heard that before. Only I'm hearing it from a team that can't lose, and that operates as, well, a team. They have my attention. They should have yours ... and the rest of the NFL.