Colts' defense rises to the occasion after embarrassment
By Pete Prisco | SportsLine.com Senior Writer Follow PeteINDIANAPOLIS -- The number ate at them for a week, gobbling at their insides daily. How could it not?
590.
That's yards.
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| Peyton Manning gets up to his usual tricks. Luckily for him and Tony Dungy, the Colts' D doesn't do the same.(AP) |
Did you hear Peyton Manning threw 14 touchdown passes in a game?
Yeah, and the Colts lost by 10.
"It wasn't fun around here," Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney said.
So Monday night, they did something about it. With a nation set to watch the Colts and Minnesota Vikings play one of those last-to-the-next-day passing fests, with Manning against Daunte Culpepper in the battle of the two leading passers in the league, the Colts defense took a major step forward in a 31-28 victory at the RCA Dome.
Giving up 28 points might not sound like much, but the defense allowed just two touchdowns, one of Minnesota's scores coming on a 91-yard punt return by Nate Burleson. Minnesota totaled 292 yards, and, yes, they were without Randy Moss -- the key to their offense -- but when a defense makes a 300-yard improvement from one week to the next, it's reason to feel good.
Manning had another wonderful night, throwing four touchdown passes to give him nine in the past two weeks and a league-high 26 on the season. It's almost as though four touchdown tosses in a game is becoming ho-hum for him.
We actually almost expect it.
Manning's late-game drive led to Mike Vanderjagt's game-winning, 35-yard field goal with two seconds left to end the Colts' two-game losing streak and tie them with Jacksonville atop the AFC South. Manning drove the Colts 55 yards in nine plays to the winning score, including a key completion on third down that was made with his left hand.
