Colts get lucky; Blanchard kicks them to victory
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. That might have been the case Sunday afternoon in the RCA Dome as the Indianapolis Colts stunned the Tampa Buccaneers with a 27-24 victory.
The game should have gone into overtime, but the Buccaneers made a crucial mistake. With 4 seconds left in the game and the game tied at 24, the Colts lined up for a game-winning field goal; however, Cary Blanchard missed the 43-yarder wide-right! It seemed as if the game was going into overtime, BUT there was a yellow flag on the play. The Bucs were offsides!
The referees moved the ball 5 yards closer and then Blanchard kicked the game-winning kick with no time on the clock. The Colts won 27-24 winning their 4th game of the year!
The Colts won despite having a backup quarterback on the field in Paul Justin, who took over because Jim Harbaugh broke his hand punching out former Bills’ QB Jim Kelly. Justin had the best day of his career. He was 17-31 passing for 196 yards and 3 TDs against one of the best defenses in the NFL in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Colts also got a great day from RB Marshal Faulk, who rushed for 116 yards on 24 carries. Faulk also caught 4 passes for 39 yards.
Defensively, the Colts got another solid day from pass rushing DE Dan Footman. He had two sacks in the game and now has 11.5 on the season, which puts him in the top 3 in the NFL.
As for the Buccaneers, they fell mainly because they could not get their running game going, which has been their strength all season. Warrick Dunn, Mike Alstott and Erict Rhett combined for 85 yards on 26 carries.
The Colts (4-5) will host the red-hot Cincinnati Bengals next week, while the Buccaneers (6-3) will try to get their season turned around after losing 3 of 4 as they travel to Atlanta to take on the Falcons.