INDIANAPOLIS – it took nearly seven minutes for the Giants to realize they were not going to dominate the Colts in the same manner they did the Panthers.
As they found out, the Colts, the Super Bowl runner-up last season, may have been dominated in their loss to the Houston Texans last week, but chatter of their possible decline was nothing but pure exaggeration.
For the second time, big brother Peyton Manning got the best of young brother Eli as the Giants had the happy taste of their opening week victory wiped away in embarrassing fashion, losing 38-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“(The Colts) played an outstanding game on both sides of the ball, said Eli Manning. “ When you can’t get first downs, it’s hard to get into your plays and your calls.
The Giants certainly did not get many of those in a first half (only five) that saw the Colts dominate the play in every conceivable fashion, including time of possession, racing out to a 24-0 lead.
It began with a textbook drive by the older Peyton, who moved his team 80 yards in 12 plays (including seven runs) without much resistance from the defense, ending with a seven-yard touchdown run by Donald Brown.
It would only get worse.
To their credit, the defense held the Colts to three-and-outs and their next two drives. However, the Giants offense did the same and this would come back to haunt them when Peyton found Dallas Clark for a 50-yard touchdown strike to increase the lead to 14.
On the play before, safety Kenny Phillips had to leave the game with a head injury. Backup Michael Johnson replaced him and Manning chose to pick on him. Johnson bit hard on a play-action pass to play the run, allowing Clark to get behind both him and Aaron Ross as he streaked into the end zone.
“Obviously not what we came to do, said Head Coach Tom Coughlin. “ I thought the first half they kept us off-balance with the run. I think we were all surprised that they were able to run and run with some consistency.”
Seeing the Colts run only 10 times and throwing 57 against Houston, the Giants defense designed their plan to stop the pass by going with a smaller alignment of three defensive ends and as many as six defensive back. Knowing this, the Colts opted to focus their emphasis on the run, amassing 124 yards.
“A lot of their runs just came off cutbacks, said Justin Tuck. “ Give them credit. Their backs did a good job of seeing the hole and hitting it. Even when we tackled them, they rolled forward for three and four more yards.”
Turnovers also did the Giants in. The younger Manning went deep down the middle of the field and the ball went off the hands of Steve Smith into the hands of Jerrold Powers for an interception that would lead to a field goal by Adam Vinatieri. Robert
Mathis would then strip Manning of the ball on third down play that the Colts would recover at their own 48.
Eight plays later, the older Manning found Austin Collie for a three-yard touchdown strike to cap off a perfect first half that saw them outgain the Giants 278 to 69.
The younger Eli resembled Matt Moore from last week, going 3-for-8 for only 17 yards.
“We didn’t run the ball especially well, we didn’t throw the ball well, Manning said. “They outplayed us.”
Yes, the running game. The Colts were determined to not allow the same 257 yards that the Texans put on them the week before, but the Giants were unable to get started quickly. This inability to run consistently put them in disadvantageous positions, allowing defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis to create havoc in the backfield.
“They (the Colts) lost last week and they came fired up this week, said Ahmad Bradshaw, who finished the game with 89 yards on 17 carries. “ They had something to prove and they proved it to us.”
The Giants tried to get into the game at the start of the third quarter when the younger Manning threw a beautiful bomb of a pass that Mario Manningham reeled in down the left sideline for a 54-yard touchdown for their first points of the game.
The defense forced a punt and they had the ball with a chance to get within two
scores.
However, on second-and-four from their own 16, Freeney came around the left side to sack Manning and strip him of the ball. Fili Moala would pick up the loose ball and run it in for a touchdown to dash any hopes of a potential comeback.
“They have great defensive ends, a great defensive rush, causing us to get sacks of throw it away or get it out quickly, Manning said. “ They didn’t do anything different than we had seen on film. It wasn’t like they came out and showed a whole different defense. They just outperformed us.”
The defense that was so instrumental in the win last week was nowhere to be found inside Lucas Oil Stadium as the Colts efficiency ran the ball all evening to the tune of 160 yards. Also, by utilizing a three-step drop to slow down pursuit from the pass rushers, the older Manning was sacked only once in the game. He would finish the game 20-for-26 for 255 yards and three touchdowns to go 2-0 against his younger sibling.
Eli would finish 13-for-24 for 161 yards and three turnovers, with almost all of his yards coming in the second half after the score was already in doubt. His final touchdown pass, a 31-yarder to Hakeem Nicks, came in the final two minutes.
As a whole, the Giants are going to need better from not only Manning but also the entire team if they are going to correct what took place on the field.
“I told the players that there is an awful lot we can learn from this, said Coughlin. “ The team we played tonight out-executed us – outplayed us, out-executed us.”
They hope that doesn’t happen next week when they face a tough Tennessee team at home.
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