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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Colts coach Jim Mora thought he'd seen all
this before. A dominant first half, an unsatisfactory second half,
and an opponent rallying late.
|  | | Peyton Manning threw for 231 yards and three touchdowns -- in the first half. |
This time, though, the Colts staved off the rally and beat the
Detroit Lions 30-18 to gain a share of first place in the AFC East.
The Colts lost 38-31 to the Oakland Raiders in Week 2 after
leading 21-0.
"I don't see this as Oakland revisited," Mora said. "That day
I was the losing coach and today I'm the winning coach. But I sure
thought about it when we were out there."
For 30 minutes, everything went right for the Colts (6-2), as
they opened up a 23-0 lead.
Peyton Manning completed 16 passes and threw for three
touchdowns (he only completed six passes the rest of the way).
Tight end Marcus Pollard had three first-quarter receptions for a
career-high 74 yards (he finished the game with that total). And
the defense allowed the Lions to gain yardage on only seven of
their first 19 plays.
It looked easy.
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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This game was like two different games.
The Colts dominated the first half (23-0 lead), but in the second half they
were continually victimized by turnovers (five overall). The Lions crept
back into the game and had a chance late to tie the score, but could not
convert in a key situation.
A big play in the second half for Detroit was Desmond Howard's 81-yard punt
return to the 1-yard line. But the Lions had to settle for a field goal. Had
they scored a touchdown, they certainly would have had a better shot later
in the game.
Peyton Manning was poised in
the first half, distributing the ball to his receivers, tight ends and
running backs (backup tight end Marcus Pollard had a career day
-- three catches for 74 yards).
After dominating the first half, the Colts basically hung on for dear life to
take this game. They're now tied for first in the AFC East.
Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers' director
of football operations.
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"It was a disastrous first half," Lions coach Bobby Ross said.
"We just didn't do very much and our pass protection was very,
very poor."
After Manning already had thrown touchdown passes to Marvin
Harrison (who finished with nine catches for 109 yards) and
Pollard, Colts defensive end Josh Williams sacked Charlie Batch for
a safety to make the score 16-0 with 2:55 left in the half.
Then the Colts marched downfield for Manning's 12-yard TD toss
Ken Dilger, making it 23-0.
Detroit (5-3) finally moved into scoring position at the end of
the first half, but Jason Hanson's 29-yard field goal attempt
caromed off the right goal post then the left and missed.
It was a fitting end to two miserable quarters.
"I don't know what the problem was. We did not have any
intensity, we did not have any fire," said wide receiver Johnnie
Morton, who caught one pass for 7 yards. "At the half, the feeling
was, 'We've got to stop this. This is embarrassing.' "
Six minutes after halftime, Mario Bates raced 9 yards for a
touchdown, and James Stewart ran in for the 2-point conversion to
make it 23-8. Detroit then recovered a Terrence Wilkins fumble on
the ensuing kickoff.
"The turnovers are inexcusable," Mora said. "You ain't going
to win much when you turn it over. We were just fortunate today."
Four plays after the kickoff, Stewart fumbled at the Colts 2.
The Lions forced a punt, then got an 80-yard return from Desmond
Howard to set them up again at the Colts 2. This time they had to
settle for a 21-yard field goal.
"We had our chances," said Batch, who was 18-of-39 for 190
yards. "We should have scored 14 points in the third quarter.
That's frustrating."
Finally, with under 3 minutes left, Batch connected with Herman
Moore on a 5-yard touchdown pass to make it 23-18, and four plays
later the Lions had the ball back again.
But Batch threw an interception, leading to James' 24-yard
touchdown run to seal the victory.
James finished with 139 yards on 31 carries.
"The gods were smiling on us today because you don't win many
games with five turnovers," Mora said. "That's not very efficient
on our part. In fact, it's rather sloppy. We were very fortunate
today."
Game notes
Harrison, who finished with nine catches for 109 yards, and
Detroit's Johnnie Morton each passed the 5,000-yard mark in
receptions. Morton became the fourth player in Detroit history to
reach the mark. It came in his 102nd game. Harrison hit the
milestone in his 68th game, faster than any player in franchise
history. ... Detroit extended the NFL's longest active streak of
not allowing a touchdown on the opening drive to 34 games. In eight
games, the Lions have limited opponents to just one field goal on
the opening drive. ... Harrison became the fifth Colts player with
40 TD catches, tying former tight end Jim Mutscheller. ... The
Colts got their second safety of the season, a figure the team last
reached in 1962. ... Detroit lost on the road for the first time
this year. ... Indianapolis is 9-1 when Harrison has 100 yards
receiving and James runs for 100. ... Detroit went into the game
improved to plus-12 in turnovers with two interceptions and three
fumble recoveries.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Detroit Clubhouse
Indianapolis Clubhouse
Clayton: Colts just counterpunching
Lions' passing game in Batch of trouble
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