The Indianapolis Colts rode the right arm of quarterback Andrew Luck and capitalized on the New York Giants lack of consistency on offense en route to a 40-24 victory at MetLife Stadium.
Luck was a picture of consistency and leadership tonight, as he sliced and diced the Giants soft defense (at least tonight) for 354 yards and 4 touchdown passes with no interceptions on 25 of 46 accuracy. One of the interesting stories of Luck’s night was his distribution of his passes and that someone outside of star receiver T.Y. Hilton (3 catches for 71 yards and 1 score) led the team in receiving yards. And that someone was Luck’s college teammate and tight end Coby Fleener. Fleener laid his hands on 4 passes for 77 yards and 1 score.
As for the Giants (3-5 overall), yes, quarterback Eli Manning threw for a ton of yards—-359 yards on 27 of 52 accuracy and 2 scores with no thefts—-but he was harassed all night and most of his (not Odell Beckham Jr. because he caught just about everything thrown in his direction) receivers dropped passes with alarming consistency or Manning’s timing was off with those receivers.
The Colts’ (6-3 overall) first offensive drive of the game was keyed by their passing game as Luck went 6 of 8 for 52 yards. That passing game also helped them get to the NYG 30 where placekicker Adam Vinatieri came in to boot a successful 48 yard field goal that put the Colts up 3-0 with 7:07 left in the first quarter.
The Giants had a frustrating first quarter as they couldn’t even cross the 50 yard line on four drives with half of those drives being three and outs. The Colts’ second scoring drive was immensely aided by a facemask penalty versus the Giants defense on the first play of the drive and Fleener. The tight end caught 2 passes for 53 yards and 1 score, with that score being a 32 yard crossing pattern then a short amble down the right sideline. Fleener’s score gave Indianapolis a 10-0 lead with 14:10 left in the second quarter.
The Giants finally advanced past the 50 on their second full drive of the second quarter. And this drive was keyed by a 3rd down and 10 reception for 19 yards to the IND 34 by Beckham Jr. (8 catches for 156 yards and no score) and a punishing off right tackle run by another rookie in running back Andre Williams for 3 yards to the IND 20. Those plays set up a successful 38 yard field goal by kicker Josh Brown to make the score 10-3 Colts with 7:07 left in the first half.
Yes, the Colts didn’t get their desired touchdowns on their third and second to last drives of the second quarter, but they did obtain a 16-3 lead when Vinatieri was successful on 31 (3:35 left) and 48 yard (1:17 left) field goals in the second quarter.
On the Colts’ first drive of the second half, a 35 yard down the seam reception by tight end Dwayne Allen (4 catches for 48 yards and 1 score) and a stop and start then hustling run down the right sideline for a first down by running back Ahmad Bradshaw (79 yards total offense) were the key plays of this drive. Those plays set up a juggling and hotly contested 31 yard touchdown reception by receiver Hilton versus Giants cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Now the Colts had a commanding 23-3 lead with 11:50 left in the third quarter.
Then on the Giants ensuing drive, Beckham Jr. authored the most exciting and biggest play of the drive when he took a Manning pass 59 yards to the IND 25 yard line. Later, Williams caught another Manning pass for 24 yards to the IND 1 yard line. On the aforementioned play, Williams was determined not to go down coupled with the fact that he was trying his best to ignite a dormant offense and a disapproving Giants crowd. Those two plays set up Williams’ own 1 yard touchdown run which gave the Giants a little breathing room and put the score at 23-10 with just over ten minutes left in the third quarter.
But the Colts countered with a scoring drive of their own on the very next offensive drive. Luck threw his third touchdown of the night to wide receiver Reggie Wayne (4 catches for 70 yards and 1 score) who sneakily got out into the flats, then caught Luck’s pass and finally he ran uncontested into the end zone to complete a 40 yard play. The Colts now had a 30-10 lead with 6:09 left in the third quarter.
Then to add to the Giants’ frustration, Colts defensive back Sergio Brown recovered a fumble by Manning—-who was sacked by rookie defensive end Jonathan Newsome—-and sped 26 yards to the NYG 4 yard line. That recovery set up Luck’s fourth touchdown pass of the night, this one to a wide open Allen to give the Colts a 37-10 lead with 4:31 left in the third quarter.
Even though it was waaaaaaaaaay too little and too late, the Giants got on the board with a Manning 5 yard touchdown pass to tight end Larry Donnell who dove for the ball in the end zone versus coverage from safety Mike Adams of the Colts. The score was now 40-17 with 8:55 left in the contest.
Even though this game was long decided, the rest of the fourth quarter gave the Giants organization and their fans a good look at some young talent in Beckham Jr. and fellow rookie wide receiver Corey Washington.
Washington to his credit caught 4 passes for 48 yards and a score on the fifth to last drive of the game for both teams. His before mentioned score came on a Manning 1 yard touchdown pass, in which the receiver secured the ball at the top left corner of the end zone versus Colts backup cornerback Josh Gordy. That score made it 40-24 with 4:13 left in the game and that ended up being the final score.
