It was supposed to be a battle between two high powered air attacks.
It turned out to be a game that for all practical purposes was over at halftime, as the Indianapolis Colts offense dominated the Arizona Cardinals en route to a 31-10 victory at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
The Colts started sluggishly on their first four possessions, but it would be the only kink in their offensive armor that night as they would find the end zone via the air on the following three possessions and take a commanding 21-3 lead to the locker room at halftime. Arizona shot themselves in the foot with three fumbles, including two in the red zone, and never developed a consistent rhythm to their offense, largely due to a good pass rush applied most of the evening by Colts defense.
While Arizona would register a touchdown on their first possession of the second half, the Colts would counter with Peyton Manning throwing his fourth touchdown pass of the night to Joseph Addai, and the Colts defense would take over from there, holding Arizona to just 97 meaningless yards of total offense for the balance of the second half.
Notes: Manning threw for 379 yards, but it was his distribution of the football that was even more impressive, as he found a different receiver on each of his four touchdown passes.
Dallas Clark, Pierre Garcon and Reggie Wayne, who had a stellar one handed grab, all visited the end zone.
The Colts posted a gaudy 505 total yards of offense including 126 yards on the ground courtesy of Addai and rookie running back Donald Brown. The duo combined to average just over four yards a carry, which was a noticeable improvement from the previous two games.
While the Colts run defense has been suspect this year, they completely stuffed the Cardinals running attack. The secondary yielded 299 net passing yards, and while many will point to Kurt Warner needing 52 attempts to achieve such, there were times when they were completely fooled and beaten down field. While they did produce two interceptions on the night, this unit while banged up, remains an area of concern.
Dwight Freeney suffered a quadriceps injury and left the game.
The extent of the injury was unknown pending the results of an MRI. Cross your fingers and hold your breath Colts fans, as the team cannot afford to lose this defensive stalwart.
The next Colts game is Oct. 4 at Lucas Oil Stadium against the Seattle Seahawks. The kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. The game will be televised and can be viewed locally on Fox 59.
Danny Bridges, who thinks the Colts have yet to play a really good football team, can be reached at (317) 578-1780 or at Bridgeshd@aol.com.
