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Colts 27, Tennessee 23
FOURTH QUARTER UPDATE
Indianapolis was not able to gain a first down, rushing twice for six yards before an end zone incompletion to Wayne. Vinatieri hit a 40-yard field goal with 3:48 left to boost the lead to 27-23.
Tennessee started its next drive at its 20. Darius Butler intercepted Locker on the second scrimmage play, returning the theft to the Titans' 28. It was the third Tennessee drive of the half without a first down.
Adam Vinatieri hit a 53-yard field goal with 6:23 left to put the Colts back in front, 24-23. The drive for the Colts covered 45 yards in 10 plays (4:05 clock time). Tennessee was offsides on third down to start the drive. Luck hit Donnie Avery for 18 yards to convert a first down to the Colts' 46. Ballard burst off left tackle for 14 yards to the Tennessee 40, but the drive stalled afterward.
Tennessee gained one first down and moved to their 40, where a Colts holding penalty negated a drive-ending sack. The drive was extended on a third-down pass interference call on the Colts.
Locker converted a third-and-two with an 11-yard run to the Colts' 21. Locker completed a 15-yard pass to Nate Washington to the Colts' five. After Vontae Davis caught Chris Johnson for a five-yard loss, Locker scrambled for eight yards. A false start call moved Tennessee back five yards and Davis had a pass defensed to force a field goal. Bironas converted from 25 yards out with 10:28 left for a 23-21 lead. The drive covered 73 yards in 16 plays. It took 10:08 seconds.
THIRD QUARTER UPDATE
Cassius Vaughn intercepted Locker on the first scrimmage play, returning the theft three yards for the go-ahead score. It is the Colts' third scoring interception return for a score this year, the most since four in 1996.
The Colts gained one yard offensively on the drive and had to punt with 5:48 left. McAfee punted 52 yards to the Tennessee one.
Delone Carter is questionable to return with an ankle injury. Robert Hughes is questionable to return with a knee injury, leaving Ballard as the club's lone healthy running back.
Cassius Vaughn had a key third-down pass defensed to force a Tennessee three-and-out and punt. Hilton returned Brett Kern's 55-yard punt 17 yards to put the Colts at their 41 with 7:34 left.
Indianapolis cut the score to 20-14 when Carter scored on a one-yard run 6:24 into the quarter. It was a 80-yard drive in 14 plays, with eight plays coming on the ground. The drive produced six first downs, including two on third-down passes of 12 and 20 yards from Luck to Wayne. The first completion (12 yards) came on third-and-nine, while the second was on third-and-12. Ballard had five rushes for 41 yards on the drive before Carter scored on third down.
Samson Satele (ankle), Winston Justice (biceps) are questionable to return with injuries.
SECOND QUARTER UPDATE
Indianapolis took possession at its 20 with 37 seconds left with one timeout remaining. A completion to Donnie Avery got the Colts to their 32. A pass interference call followed two incompletions, moving the Colts to their 47 with 12 seconds left. The half ended with an interception of Luck on a heave at the gun.
The Titans completed a strong quarter when Bironas hit a 31-yard field goal with 37 seconds left. It was a 72-yard drive on pass plays. The drive reached the Colts' 10 before Vontae Davis sacked Locker to force the kick. Locker hit a 46-yard completion to Britt on the drive. He had five completions on the possession.
Indianapolis could not move on its ensuing drive. Reggie Wayne recovered a fumbled reception by Delone Carter on the drive's first play. Luck was sacked twice, forcing a punt at the two-minute warning. McAfee punted 53 yards to the Tennessee 15.
The Titans upped the count to 17-7 when Will Witherspoon intercepted a third-down pass from a scrambling Luck and returned the theft 40 yards for a score with 4:40 left in the half. The turnover was the seventh play of a possession that had gained two first downs. A review of the play was upheld.
Tennessee had its first three-and-out and punted to the Colts. Indianapolis took over at its eight-yard line after a 53-yard kick and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Locker was flagged for intentional grounding to start the drive, a 10-yard loss and loss of down.
The Colts held onto the ball for five plays before punting. McAfee booted 54 yards and after the return, Tennessee started at its 31. Hilton had a 14-yard reception early in the drive for Indianapolis.
The Titans took a 10-7 lead 2:33 into the quarter on a 40-yard field goal by Bironas. The scoring drive covered 58 yards. Tennessee overcame a first-and-20 deep in its territory after an offensive pass interference call. Locker hit Kenny Britt on a 46-yard completion to the Colts' 25, but Indianapolis stiffened on two rushing attempts before a Locker incompletion forced the field goal attempt.
Tickets distributed today: 64,688.
FIRST QUARTER UPDATE
The Colts evened the score on a four-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Luck to Reggie Wayne, using a short field after the missed kick. Luck teamed with T.Y. Hilton on a 36-yard reception to get the drive going. Luck hit Vick Ballard for 10 yards to the Tennessee one just prior to the score.
Tennessee moved from its 21 to the Colts' 39, gaining two first downs. Rob Bironas was wide right from 57 yards out with 5:12 left in the period. Indianapolis took possession at its 47.
Indianapolis failed to produce a first down on its opening possession. Pat McAfee punted 54 yards to the Tennessee 21.
Moving for four first downs on the opening drive, Tennessee took a 7-0 lead when Jake Locker hit Jared Cook on an 18-yard scoring pass 4:50 into the game. It was an 80-yard march in nine plays, with Tennessee overcoming a holding call in Colts territory. Locker spurred the drive early with a 32-yard scramble. He hit all six passes on the drive, totaling 53 yards.
Tennessee won the coin toss and elected to receive. The Colts will defend the north goal.
COLTS PRE-GAME REPORT
The roof and window for Lucas Oil Stadium are closed.
COLTS GAME-DAY DEACTIVATIONS:
WR-Nathan Palmer
S-Tom Zbikowski
RB-Donald Brown
LB-Mario Harvey
OT-Bradley Sowell
DT-Kellen Heard
OG-Joe Reitz
EXPECTED LINEUP CHANGES FOR COLTS:
Joe Lefeged starts at SS for Tom Zbikowski
Vick Ballard starts at RB for Donald Brown
Seth Olsen starts at LG for Joe Reitz
Pat Angerer at Mike LB for Kavell Conner
COLTS PRE-GAME NOTES:
Today's game marks the 86th straight sellout for the Colts, and the team has sold out 120 of the last 121 games. There never has been a game in Lucas Oil Stadium that was not sold out.
The Colts are 7-1 in games decided by seven points or less, tying Atlanta for the most in the league this year.
If the Colts earn a playoff berth, they will join Miami (2008) and New England (1982) on the list of teams to make the playoffs one year after going 2-14 or worse.
Andrew Luck has six 300 games, the NFL rookie record. Luck surpassed Peyton Manning (4, 1998) for the club and NFL record by a rookie quarterback.
Luck (3,596) has joined Manning (3,739, 1998) as the only Colts rookies to throw for 3,000 yards. He needs 48 completions and 144 yards to eclipse Manning's rookie club records (326; 3,739). He needs 456 passing yards to eclipse Cam Newton's NFL record for rookie passing yards (4,051).
Earlier this year, Luck joined Newton as the only players with three 300 games in the first four games of a career. Against Miami in week nine, Luck threw for 433 yards to eclipse Newton's (432) previous NFL rookie record.
Luck has taken every offensive snap and has had a major hand in the club's successes. He became the first NFL rookie quarterback since 1971 to lead a September fourth-quarter comeback win in the club's week two triumph over Minnesota.
After the Green Bay win, Luck became the first NFL rookie to pass for 1,200 yards (1,208) and record at least two wins in his team's first four games. After the Cleveland win, he was the first NFL rookie with 1,500 passing yards (1,674) and three wins in a team's first six games.
After the Tennessee win, Luck had the highest winning percentage (.571, 4-3) by a rookie quarterback who was a top overall pick through week eight in NFL history.
He won AFC Offensive Player-of-the-Week honors for his outing against Miami. Luck completed 30-of-48 passes for 433 yards and two touchdowns. In facing then the NFL's best third-down defense, he completed 13-of-17 third-down passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, converting 12 third downs via the air on that down. Luck set the NFL record for best winning percentage by a top overall pick through week nine (5-3, .625; minimum two starts).
Luck set the club rookie record with four touchdown passes at Detroit. He directed scoring drives of 85 and 75 yards, ending both with touchdowns in the last 2:39 to earn the win. It was the fifth game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime, tying Ben Roethlisberger (2004) and Vince Young (2006) for the most by a rookie since the 1970 merger.
Luck's fourth touchdown came with no time remaining, and he joined Russell Wilson, Tim Couch and Matthew Stafford as the only rookies since 1970 with a game-winning toss with no time left on the clock.
At Detroit with the two late scoring drives, the Colts became just the seventh team since 2000 to win a game despite trailing by 12 or more points with less than three minutes remaining. (Advanced NFL Stats calculated the chances of winning in that scenario are two percent). The 2003 Colts (at Tampa Bay) and 2009 Colts (vs. New England) were two of those teams as well.
Luck (.667) had the best winning percentage through nine games by a rookie QB who was first overall pick in Super Bowl era (6-3; minimum three starts).
Luck at Detroit surpassed St. Louis' Sam Bradford (7, 2010) for the most wins by a rookie quarterback drafted first overall. He is the winningest such rookie QB since 1950.
The franchise mark for starting QB wins by a rookie is nine by Chris Chandler in 1988 (9-4 for season).
The NFL post-merger record for rookie starting wins is 13 by Ben Roethlisberger in 2004. Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco had 11 in 2008, while Kyle Orton had 10 in 2005. With nine wins, Chandler joined Joe Ferguson (1973) and was joined by Andy Dalton (2011).
Luck is averaging 299.7 passing yards a game, 4th-most in the NFL and most among rookie QBs.
Luck leads AFC QBs with 216 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. The rushing touchdowns broke the previous club seasonal record of four by Bert Jones (1974) and Peyton Manning (2001, 2006).
Reggie Wayne has receptions in 108 straight games. He leads active NFL receivers with 185 career games played. Wayne (145) is one of six Colts ever to start more than 100 consecutive games (208, Peyton Manning; 115, C-Ken Mendenhall; 104, DE-Fred Cook; 102, DB-Jason Belser; 101, OT-Tarik Glenn). He has played in 178 straight games, the league's best streak by a WR.
Wayne (950, 12,864) is 11th in NFL career receptions. The player ahead of Wayne is Andre Reed (951, 10th). He is 14th in NFL reception yards. Next on the yardage list is Steve Largent (13,089, 13th).
Against New York, Wayne became the 14th NFL player with 900 career receptions.
Against Green Bay, Wayne (13-212, 1 TD) produced his highest yardage day (200 vs. Dallas 12/5/10) and became the first Colts receiver with two career 200 regular-season games. His yardage ranked only behind Raymond Berry (224 at Washington 11/10/57) and it was the fifth 200 game in club regular-season history (224, Berry; 212, Wayne; 210, Roger Carr at NY Jets 10/24/76; 203, Reggie Langhorne at Washington 11/7/93; 200, Wayne). Wayne became only the seventh player since 1990 to have a 200 game in a 10th career season or later (James Lofton, Irving Fryar, Jerry Rice, Shannon Sharpe, Rod Smith, Terrell Owens (2), Wayne (2)).
He earned the AFC Offensive Player-of-the-Week honors for the first time in his career.
The Colts are 29-12 when Wayne tops 100 reception yards, 21-12 when he has at least eight receptions, 54-13 when he scores a touchdown.
Wayne (76) ranks third in Colts history in career touchdowns (128, Marvin Harrison; 113, Lenny Moore). His 76 touchdown receptions are second-most to Harrison (128).
Wayne has 12,864 career scrimmage yards, second in Colts history (14,608, Marvin Harrison; 12,065, Edgerrin James).
Wayne has three or more receptions in a league-record 60 straight games, snapping the previous best of Cris Carter (1993-97). Wayne has receptions in 179 of 185 career games. He has multiple receptions in 174 outings and three or more receptions in 155 contests.
Wayne has 96.3 yardage average this year. His career-best was 94.4 in 2007. The only two times in franchise history when a player held a 100.0-yard average were 1999 (Marvin Harrison, 103.9) and 2002 (Harrison, 107.6).
Wayne (1,156) has produced his eighth 1,000-yard season. Reaching that plateau ties him with Marvin Harrison (8, 1999-2006) for the club record. Wayne had seven consecutive from 2004-10, the second-longest consecutive streak in franchise history.
Wayne needs 44 reception yards for his sixth 1,200-yardage season (1,510, 2007; 1,355, 2010; 1,310, 2006; 1,264, 2009; 1,210, 2004). It would tie him with Harrison for the club record. It would tie him with Harrison and Torry Holt for third-most in NFL history behind Jerry Rice (11) and Randy Moss (8).
Wayne (88) needs 12 receptions to produce his fourth 100 -catch season. He had 104 in 2007, 100 in 2009 and 111 in 2010. If Wayne reaches 100, he will tie Marvin Harrison (115, 1999; 102, 2000; 109, 2001; 143, 2002) for the club record. Jerry Rice had four 100 -reception seasons, while Wes Welker is eight receptions shy of setting the league record with a fifth such year. Brandon Marshall needs nine receptions to have his fourth 100 -reception season.
If Wayne leads the team in receptions in 2012, it will be his seventh time doing so, ranking behind Marvin Harrison (9) and Raymond Berry (8) in club history, but it would tie Harrison's (6, 1999-04) club mark for the most consecutive seasons leading the team.
The Green Bay game was Wayne's 15th with 10 receptions, one behind Marvin Harrison's club record. Jerry Rice (17) and Wes Welker (17) are the all-time leaders. Harrison (16) and Andre Johnson (16) are tied for second-most. Wayne is fifth. Wayne (2007-08) is tied with Johnson (2008) and Brett Perriman (1995) for the NFL lead with three straight games with 10 catches.
Against Green Bay, Wayne became the 16th NFL player with 40 career 100 games (76, Jerry Rice; 64, Randy Moss (active); 59, Marvin Harrison, 51, Terrell Owens; 50, Don Maynard; 47, Torry Holt; 47, Michael Irvin; 46, Jimmy Smith; 45, Isaac Bruce; 43, Tim Brown; 43, James Lofton; 42, Cris Carter; 41, Lance Alworth; 40, Steve Largent; 40, Steve Smith (active)). Rice, Maynard, Irvin, Lofton, Alworth and Largent are Hall-of-Famers.
Wayne needs three receptions against Tennessee to reach 100 against them for his career. It would place Tennessee along with Houston and Jacksonville as teams against whom he has at least 100 career receptions. It would make Wayne the eighth player with 100 or more receptions against three or more teams. He would join Tim Brown, Andre Reed and Cris Carter (who did it against four opponents), as well as Art Monk, Jerry Rice, Rod Smith and Hines Ward.
Antoine Bethea has 96 tackles this season and has 787 for his career. Bethea is one of seven Indianapolis Colts to top 700 career tackles (1,149 Jeff Herrod; 1,052, Duane Bickett; 785, Jason Belser; 754, Gary Brackett, 744, Eugene Daniel).
Kicker Adam Vinatieri has scored in the last 142 consecutive games. His 53-yard field goal with eight seconds left against Minnesota was the 24th game-winning kick of his career.
Against Tennessee, Vinatieri became the eighth player in NFL history to reach 400 career field goals. Vinatieri has 495 career field goal attempts, 10th in NFL history (Jason Elam is ninth at 540). Vinatieri (683) at Detroit moved past Lenny Moore (678) for fourth-place in Colts career scoring.
Vinatieri needs one field goal from the 50 -range for his eighth with the club. He is tied at seven with Raul Allegre and Cary Blanchard behind the club leaders (18, Dean Biasucci; 14, Mike Vanderjagt).
Vinatieri needs 11 points for his 15th career 100-plus point season. It would be his fifth with the Colts, second to Mike Vanderjagt (8).
Linebacker Jerrell Freeman topped the club in tackles in each of the first seven games before the streak was ended vs. Miami. Freeman had 13 at Chicago, 18 vs. Minnesota, 16 vs. Jacksonville, 11 vs. Green Bay, 19 at New York, seven vs. Cleveland and 15 at Tennessee. He topped the team with 13 at New England, 18 vs. Buffalo and 10 at Detroit. Freeman was involved in takeaways in two of the first three outings – scoring interception return at Chicago; forced fumble against Minnesota. Freeman is the first Colts undrafted player ever to return an interception for a touchdown in a career debut, and was the first to do so in the since 1987 (LB-Peter Noga; DB-Paul Tripoli).
Against Jacksonville, T.Y. Hilton became the first NFL rookie receiver this year to post a 100-yard game when he had 113 yards against Jacksonville 9/23. He was 6-102, 1 TD vs. Miami for his second 100 outing. Hilton joined Ray Perkins (1967), Bill Brooks (1986), Marvin Harrison (1996) and Anthony Gonzalez (2007) for the second-most 100 outings by a Colts rookie receiver (3, Andre Rison, 1989). With 6-100, 2 TDs at New England, Hilton tied Rison for the club mark. Hilton set the club rookie mark for 100-yard games with 6-100 at Detroit.
Hilton was the 13th receiver taken in the draft. There were four selected in the first round, five in the second and three in the third before he was taken with the 92nd choice.
Against Buffalo, Hilton scored on a 75-yard punt return and an eight-yard reception to become the first Colts player to record such scores in the same game in franchise history. Hilton earned AFC Special Teams Player-of-the-Week honors for the achievement.
Tight end Dwayne Allen (36) at Detroit moved past John Mackey (35, 1963) for the second-most rookie receptions by a Colts tight end (42, Ken Dilger, 1995).
Linebacker Dwight Freeney (104.5) has recorded sacks against 27 of 31 teams. Detroit, Atlanta, New Orleans and Washington are the only teams that Freeney has not produced a sack against. Freeney has 25 career multiple-sack games, including five three-plus sack games. He has sacked 52 different quarterbacks. Freeney has seven of the 17 double-digit sack seasons in club history.
Linebacker Robert Mathis (90.5) had an eight-game sack streak end at New England. It tied his personal-best. In 2005, he set an NFL record with sacks in eight consecutive games to start a season. Mathis has 20 career multiple-sack games, including two three-plus sack games. Mathis has four of the 17 double-digit sack seasons in club history.
The Colts are 26-8 when Freeney and Mathis combine for sacks. They each produced 10 sacks in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2010 to set the NFL mark for most seasons with teammates doing so together. They surpassed Reggie White and Clyde Simmons by doing so. They have combined for 20-plus sacks in five different seasons (26.5, 2004; 22.5, 2005; 22.0, 2008; 23.0, 2009; 21.0, 2010).
There are 14 players in franchise history, nine in the Indianapolis era, to participate in at least 100 regular-season victories: 141 games, QB-Peyton Manning; 132, QB-John Unitas; 132, C-Jeff Saturday; 127, TE-Justin Snow; 124, WR-Reggie Wayne; 118, WR-Marvin Harrison; 114, P-Hunter Smith; 109, LB-Dwight Freeney; 109, P-David Lee; 108, OT-Ryan Diem; 107, LB-Don Shinnick; 106, DE-Ordell Braase; 105, C/LB-Dick Szymanski; 102, Robert Mathis.
Bruce Arians is the sixth interim head coach in club history (1972, John Sandusky, nine games; 1974, Joe Thomas, 11; 1984, Hal Hunter, one; 1991, Rick Venturi, 11 games; 2005, Jim Caldwell, one game). Arians is the lone one who is subbing for a coach (Chuck Pagano) who will return to the team.
In beating Green Bay, Arians was the only Colts interim coach to win his first game. Arians (7-2) set the franchise record for the most wins by an interim field leader in the 27-10 victory at Jacksonville.
Sandusky was 4-5 in the games in 1972 when he succeeded Don McCafferty. His four wins under those interim conditions stood as the club mark until Arians tied him with the team's 23-20 victory over Miami this year. Thomas was 2-9 in 1974 after succeeding Howard Schnellenberger, while Venturi was 1-10 in his outings in 1991 after replacing Ron Meyer. Hunter lost the final game in 1984 after the departure of Frank Kush. Caldwell lost his one game in the absence of Tony Dungy.
The only interim coaches in NFL history with nine wins (according to Stats LLC) are Wally Lemm (9-0, Houston, 1961; replaced Lou Rymkus) and Hamp Pool (9-2, LA Rams, 1952; replaced Joe Stydahar). Don Coryell (8-4, San Diego, 1978; replaced Tommy Prothro), Mike Holovak (7-1-1, Boston Patriots, 1961; replaced Lou Saban), Bruce Coslet (7-2, Cincinnati, 1996; replaced David Shula) and Art Shell (7-5, L.A. Raiders, 1989; replaced Mike Shanahan) are the most successful interim coaches in addition to Arians.
