The Indianapolis Colts finally won without star quarterback Peyton Manning as they saw off the Tennessee Titans 27-13.
Quarterback Orlovsky plays a lead role in helping Indy to victory
The Indianapolis Colts finally won without star quarterback Peyton Manning as they saw off Tennessee 27-13.
Dan Orlovsky threw one touchdown pass, a key block on an 80-yard TD run and the Colts defense held Chris Johnson to 55 yards rushing to avoid becoming the second 0-16 team in league history.
For the first time in 10 career starts, Orlovsky finished the game with the traditional kneel down, and the Colts also avoided becoming the first team in franchise history to go 0-14.
The Colts' previous win had come on January 2 last season, also at home against Tennessee.
Stumble
Tennessee had nobody to blame but itself for this stumble. Matt Hasselbeck was picked off twice before being pulled in favor of rookie Jake Locker. Johnson ran 15 times but struggled to make an impact.
The Titans also lost a fumble and booted a kickoff out of bounds at their own one. And even after Locker threw a seven-yard TD pass to Nate Washington with less than four minutes to go, they still couldn't wrap up the Colts.
On the first play after Locker's TD pass, it looked as if the Titans had Donald Brown corralled in the backfield. But when Brown reversed field, Orlovsky threw a block that got Brown to the edge, allowing him to sprint 80 yards for the game-sealing score. The tail-back finished with 16 carries for 161 yards.
Indy spent the past nine weeks just trying to get a lead. After more than 500 minutes, they finally did courtesy of Adam Vinatieri's 47-yard field goal.
Tennessee answered with two Rob Bironas field goals with the second giving Tennessee a 6-3 halftime lead.
It didn't last long.
After forcing a Tennessee punt to start the second half, Tommie Campbell's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave Indy the ball at the Titans 43. Seven plays later, Orlovsky hooked up with Reggie Wayne for an 18-yard TD that gave Indy a 10-6 lead.
Indy knew it would take more to get a win. Jacob Lacey, the oft-criticized cornerback, returned an interception 32 yards for the score and a 17-6 lead.
On the ensuing kick-off, Marc Mariani tried to field the bouncing ball in the end zone, only to kick it inside the Titans one-yard line. Indy forced another punt, then got a 39-yard run from Brown to set up Vinatieri's 40-yard field goal that made it 20-6 with 12:53 to play.
