Dan Orlovsky got a big monkey off his back this weekend. In his sixth start of the season, and the Colts 14th game, Orlovsky led the Colts to their first victory of the season, avoiding the dreaded 0-16 season as the Colts defeated the Tennessee Titans 27-13.
Prior to this season, Orlovsky hadn’t started a game since 2008, where he played in 10 games for the Detroit Lions as part of their 0-16 season. Fortunately, with today’s victory, Orlovsky avoided being the answer to a piece of unwanted trivia for the rest of his life – as the one player to start for both 0-16 teams in NFL history.
Orlovsky’s stats were nothing to make the team forget about Peyton Manning, but the combination of a strong defensive effort and a strong running game was enough to lock up the victory. Orlovsky finished the day 11 of 17 for 82 yards with 1 TD, but the Colts amassed 205 yards rushing, led by Donald Brown’s 16 carries for 161 yards and a TD.
The Colts trailed at the half 6-3, but jumped out to a lead in the third quarter as they scored 14 unanswered points on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Orlovsky to Reggie Wayne, and a Jacob Lacey 32-yard interception return for a touchdown on a bass by Matt Hasselbeck.
Hasselbeck was pulled in the fourth quarter in favor of rookie Jake Locker, and Tennessee pulled to within a TD when Nate Washington scored on a 7-yard TD pass from Locker with 3:43 left in the fourth to cut the lead to 20-13.
But on the ensuing drive, Brown broke free for an 80-yard touchdown run with 3:26 left in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
The victory moves Indianapolis to 1-13; however, they still possess the worst record in the league, with a 1 game advantage over the 2-12 teams – Minnesota and St. Louis – in the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes, aka the NFL Draft.
