There were a ton of Colts fans who made the trip up 70 West to see their beloved blue and white play in St. Louis.
Too bad the game was basically over at halftime.
In what is starting to become a reoccurring theme, Indianapolis once again headed into the locker room at halftime with the matter in hand and simply added more insult to injury in the second half as they cruised to a 42-6 victory over St. Louis.
Peyton Manning needed just 12 plays on the opening drive to engineer a balanced attack that culminated with a six yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne for the first score of the day. St. Louis would counter on their first possession with a field goal, and it looked as if the Rams just might be willing to give the Colts a fight. That theory would be short lived as a 45 yard run by Donald Brown set the stage for a 27 yard touchdown pass from Manning to Dallas Clark, to put the Colts up 14-3. The drive (if you can call it that) took all of one minute and 55 seconds and just three plays to produce seven points.
The Colts would tack on a six yard touchdown run by Joseph Addai to take a 21-3 lead into the locker room in a first half that was not nearly as close as the score would indicate.
This pre -halloween nightmare would continue for the Rams in the third quarter as rookie corner back Jacob Lacey would return an interception 35 yards for a touchdown to give the Colts a 28-3 lead. The St. Louis offense would manage to produce nothing more than a measly field goal in the period, as the Colts defense remained stingy and kept the Rams under their collective thumb.
The final stanza would prove to be nothing more than the Colts going through the motions as they would tack on an eight yard touchdown reception by rookie Austin Collie, and round out their scoring for the day with a 31 yard touchdown romp by Chad Simpson, to put the bow on yet another impressive offensive package. Again, my condolences to those Colts faithful who made the 500 mile round trip trek to see this one as it was over quickly.
Notes: While Peyton Manning’s streak of consecutive 300 yard passing games ended at five, he was again masterful, completing 23 of 34 for 235 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Manning spread the wealth all day by compiling completions to eight different receivers in the process.
The Colts have now won 15 consecutive regular season games. With the win over the Rams, they also established a new record for consecutive road wins with their eighth straight. Conversely, the Rams have now lost 17 straight regular season games.
The Colts defense, rated number seven in the NFL, reeked havoc with Rams quarterback Marc Bulger all day, sacking him three times. The pressure they were able to apply with just a four man front was phenomenal and allowed the secondary to utilize a number of various zone coverage schemes, which in turn totally neutralized the Rams passing game. They did however allow Stephen Jackson, (arguably the most physically punishing running back in the NFL) 134 yards rushing on 23 attempts. This has to be a concern for the Colts coaching staff.
Indianapolis was an ultra efficient eight for 12 in third down conversion situations, and held the Rams to just four of 13 in this critical category. Bob Sanders saw his first action of the season and delivered a typical Sanders like hit early in the game.
Colts rookie running back Donald Brown injured his shoulder in the first half and did not return to action in the second half.
Thanks to all of you who took the time to email and phone me regarding the Jim Irsay and Rush Limbaugh story. Your comments are important to me and always welcomed.
The next Colts game is Nov. 1 against the San Francisco 49ers. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. and it can be seen on Fox 59 locally.
Danny Bridges, who feels the Colts will not be tested until New England comes a calling to Lucas Oil Stadium on Nov. 15, can be reached at (317) 578-1780 or Bridgeshd@aol.com.
