158.3 is a perfect quarterback rating in the NFL. That was the rating for the player who threw the go-ahead touchdown for the Colts.
However, it was not Peyton Manning. Nope, it was running back (former high school quarterback) Joseph Addai. The first time a passing touchdown has been thrown by someone other than Manning in his tenure in Indy since Ken Dilger did it in 2001.
Another rare occurence for Peyton Manning also happened in this game. He was held to zero touchdown passes.
That’s right—for the first time since Nov. 30, 2008, Manning was held without a throwing touchdown in a game. He left that duty on Sunday to the high school All-American quarterback, Addai.
It was Addai's first career passing TD as a pro, and the result was perfect. Reggie Wayne stretched himself out at the end line to keep both feet in bounds to give the Colts their first lead of the game seven seconds into the final quarter.
“I was just trying to get the ball out there,” Addai said. “In practice, I’m just kind of spotting up there, kind of looking, reading my keys. I don’t really have a key to read, but I kind of sit back there like a real quarterback.”
While Manning did finish the game 31-of-48 for 347 yards, things did not begin the way the Colts and their fans are using to seeing the offense start off games. Peyton and the Colts got nothing going on their first few possessions of the game.
Rookie punter Pat McAfee had seven punts on the game, his most this year. He did an excellent job of pinning the 49ers back in their territory, averaging 41 yards a punt and booming one down the field 60 yards.
The incredible precision we are used to seeing from Manning was not there to start the game. He had more balls underthrown, overthrown, and just plain missed than I have seen from him in a while.
With Manning and the offense out of sync of sorts to start the game, the Colts turned to their defense to help them stay in the game, which they have not had to do so far this season.
The Indy "D" responded, and responded well.
After allowing Frank Gore to slip through the line for a 64-yard touchdown score, they kept him and rookie running back Glen Coffee to 35 yards rushing the rest of the game. Not only did they keep the 49ers running game in check, they also forced San Fran into a dismal 2-of-10 rate on third down conversions, a key stat in their win on Sunday.
The 64-yard TD run from Gore was the first touchdown Indy has allowed since week four of the season.
Bob Sanders intercepted Alex Smith in the first quarter and returned it 29 yards to give the ball back to Manning and the offense. Unfortunately, and to the dismay of Manning, they had to settle for a Matt Stover 33-yard field goal.
In the second half the Colts offense found its stride a little more and began to move the ball down the field. However, Manning and the Colts offense had to continue to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns.
Once the Colts had closed the gap to 7-6 early in the second quarter, San Fran shot back with a nine-yard TD strike from Smith to Vernon Davis with 33 seconds left on the clock. One problem with their touchdown though: They received a 15-yard excessive celebration penalty that gave the Colts even better field position on the ensuing kickoff.
Manning and the offense needed only three plays to move the ball into position to set up the newly acquired kicker Stover for a 31-yard boot to make it 14-9 at the half.
The score remained at 14-9 until the Colts pulled out the halfback option play and saw Addai hit a wide-open Reggie Wayne in the end zone for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning TD.
“I thought we weren’t quite as sharp as we have been at times,” Manning said. “There’s definitely some areas we can improve on.”
Game Notes
Wayne had a career-high 12 catches for 147 yards.
Manning became the fourth player in NFL history to have 4,000 completions. He also became the fastest player in NFL history to achieve this, doing it in only 183 games.
Jim Caldwell became the first coach since the 1970 merger to win his first seven NFL games.
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