This was a great defensive battle which is the type of game the Colts would have been thought to lose, but they proved everyone wrong. The defense is the reason the Colts won this football game, plain and simple. With the Colts leading the football game 6-3 and the Ravens driving, rookie safety Antoine Bethea intercepted a Steve McNair pass at the Colts 1 yard line. The offense then proceeded to drive to set up a 51-yard FG attempt by Adam Vinatieri. Vinatieri hit the ball well, and it hit the crossbar and bounced over it for a FG to make the score 9-3. Then in the 4th quarter, cornerback Nick Harper intercepted a McNair pass at the Colts 32-yard line that was intended for rookie WR Demetrius Williams with the Colts leading only 12-6!

Bob Sanders and Rob Morris led the way for the Colts defense with 10 tackles apiece. Now that those two key pieces are back in the starting line-up, the Colts defense is playing much better. The Colts held the Ravens to 83 yards rushing on 20 carries (4.2 ypc). The Ravens completed 18 of 29 passes for only 161 net yards passing.

Peyton Manning had a terrible game as he completed 15 of 30 passes (50%) for 170 yards and he threw 2 interceptions. Joseph Addai found the Ravens defense hard to run on as he carried the ball 18 times for 39 yards (2.2 ypc) and he caught 3 passes for 22 yards. Dominic Rhodes was the man in the second half as he carried the ball 14 times for 56 yards (4.0 ypc) when the game was on the line. Reggie Wayne (5 rec, 51 yards) and Marvin Harrison (4 rec, 45 yards) didn’t really make any big plays in this game.

Adam Vinatieri did a great job hitting all 5 FG attempts which is why the Colts brought him in from New England.

The Colts advance to the AFC Championship to play either the San Diego Chargers or the New England Patriots next week. http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270113033