Close but no cigar.
With just over three minutes remaining in regulation the Colts were down 27-19 against the Carolina Panthers Sunday and had the ball first-and-10 from their own 20 with the game in the balance.
Quarterback Curtis Painter and the Indy offense found themselves on the Panthers doorstep nine plays later with a first-and-goal from the Carolina three-yard line and 43 seconds left on the clock.
“Felt good,” wide receiver Reggie Wayne said. “We felt like things were going to work out. We already knew what play we were going to run if we scored.”
Tight end Jacob Tamme, who appeared to be hit early by Carolina safety Charles Godfrey but didn’t get the call, wasn’t able to reel in Painter’s first shot at the end zone.
On second down Painter’s attempt to connect with Austin Collie in the back of the end zone was tipped by Godfrey and intercepted by safety Sherrod Martin, who tiptoed the sideline to get both feet down.
“Everybody on the sideline had complete faith that we were about to go down and score,” defensive back Jerraud Powers said. “A tipped ball and the guy catches it on the back end line. That’s one of those situations where I say the ball bounced their way. We just can’t catch a break.”
“The guy made a great play and kept his feet in bounds,” Painter added.
After going down 10-0 early the Colts fought back to tie the game at 10-10 and had some momentum going into halftime when defensive end Jamal Anderson blocked Olindo Mare’s 45-yard field goal attempt.
Carolina running back DeAngelo Williams scored on a 25-yard run to put the Panthers ahead 17-10 with 9:13 on the clock in the third. The Colts responded with a six play, 48-yard drive that resulted in a 31-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal late in the third.
Williams scored his second touchdown of the game just under two minutes into the fourth quarter on a two yard run that made the score 24-13. A few minutes later on the Colts next possession Painter found Wayne for a 56-yard touchdown pass and catch. The two point conversion was unsuccessful and left Indy behind 24-19.
Mare connected again pushing the Panther lead to 27-19. This time from 41 yards out on a field goal that was set up by a 76-yard kickoff return by Kealoha Pilares.
Painter had a slow start and was only two for six in the first half for 19 yards. In the second half, he got in rhythm and finished the game with 15 completions on 29 attempts for 226 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Panther defensive back Chris Gamble picked off Painter’s pass for the first time in the end zone on a deep right pass intended for Garcon with 4:29 left in the fourth.
Donald Brown came to life and gave the running game a boost. He had 80 yards on 14 carries with one touchdown. Wayne, who had 5 receptions for 122 yards, produced his first 100 yard receiving game and touchdown catch since week one.
Defensively the Colts did a good job containing rookie quarterback Cam Newton. They had a few breakdowns in the run defense but defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis stayed in Newton’s face most of the afternoon.
“We did some things well. Donald Brown had a real good day, Reggie had his first 100-yard game in a while and had some nice catches,” head coach Jim Caldwell said. “Defensively we had three sacks on a guy that’s hard to get down and we had some big stops.”
The loss dropped the Colts to 0-11 on the season and although still winless Sunday’s game showed they still have fight left in them.
“One of the things you like to be able to do is always give yourself a choice to win and I think we did that,” Caldwell said. “We had some letdowns. I do think there was some improvement. There were a lot of good things but not quite enough.”
