The Indianapolis Colts found themselves looking at an early first-half deficit for the third week in a row on Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans (4-6) took an early lead after a 30-yard run from Chris Johnson on the opening drive of the game. Later in the first quarter Johnson found the end zone again, this time on an 11-yard run. Prior to Thursday the Titans’ running back had managed only two rushing touchdowns all season, both of which came in a 28-21 victory over the St. Louis Rams two weeks ago.
The Colts’ offense was essentially nonexistent in the first half, for the third week in a row the only points scored came from kicker Adam Vinatieri, who kicked three field goals on the night, two of which were in the first half.
The Colts (7-3) have been outscored in the first half of the last three games 66-9 and have trailed after the first quarter in a total of six games this season.
“Obviously, starting out like that is something we’re all too familiar with,” said Indianapolis tight end Coby Fleener who had a career high eight catches. “That’s something we have to work and get corrected.”
The Colts were able to make enough corrections at half time tonight as they came out for the second half on a mission and opened the half with a 74-yard drive that took almost 6:30 minutes off the clock. Donald Brown capped off the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run. Brown finished the night with 14 carries for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
Following the Indianapolis touchdown the Titans fumbled the kick off and gave up possession to the Colts on their own 20-yard line. Two plays later and Andrew Luck scampered into the end zone on an 11-yard run. Before the Tennessee offense could even take the field for the second half they were missing the 11-point cushion that they built in the first half.
Titans’ backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick made his fifth appearance of the year in place of Jake Locker. Fitzpatrick went 22/28 for 222 yards and a touchdown against the Colts. He also ran the ball four times for 26 yards. His lone touchdown of the night came just after the 2:00 mark of the fourth quarter to bring his team within a field goal.
However, the Titans couldn’t recover the following onside kick and Andrew Luck and company were able to run out the remainder of the game from the victory formation.
Luck finished the night 23/36 with 232 yards and one rushing touchdown. He ran the ball nine times for 31 yards.
The victory over Tennessee means that the Colts have yet to lose back-to-back games with Andrew Luck at quarterback. They also have control over the AFC-South as they have defeated every division opponent on the road.
The Colts will travel to Glendale, Arizona to take on the Arizona Cardinals and the Tennessee Titans will head west to Oakland, California to face off against the Raiders.
