Even without big guns, Colts blast Bucs
INDIANAPOLIS -- No Marvin Harrison and no Joseph Addai proved no problem for the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
Playing without five injured starters, including two key players in their high-scoring offense, the Colts dominated the clock and their improving defense never gave Tampa Bay a chance in a 33-14 blowout.
Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning made it look easy by throwing 2 touchdowns, while first-time starter Kenton Keith rushed for 121 yards and 2 more scores.
"I have been proud of our team on many, many occasions, but this is one of the best," Colts coach Tony Dungy said after beating his former team. "I thought the backup guys didn't try to do too much. Everybody just did their job."
Conventional wisdom suggested that without Harrison, the eight-time Pro Bowl receiver, and Addai, the Colts' feature back, the offense might be susceptible against Tampa Bay's usually strong defense.
It was no contest.
Manning finished 27 of 39 for 253 yards and simply used other players to replace the missing parts. Pro Bowl receiver Reggie Wayne, tight end Dallas Clark and first-round draft pick Anthony Gonzalez each caught 7 passes. Gonzalez entered the game with only 6 catches all season.
The magnitude of the rout wasn't even reflected by the score.
Indianapolis held the ball for a 38:15, including all but 90 seconds in the third quarter when the Bucs ran three plays. Tampa Bay (3-2) finished with 17 yards rushing after losing Carnell "Cadillac" Williams for the season last week and then losing backup Michael Pittman in the second quarter Sunday with a sprained right ankle. It was the lowest rushing total allowed by a Colts team since 1971.
After three quarters Tampa Bay had 74 yards of offense -- 56 coming on its only meaningful scoring drive in the second quarter -- and was outgained by the Colts 400-177.
The 40 offensive plays run by Tampa were the third-fewest ever allowed by a Colts team. The New York Jets had 34 in November 2003 and San Francisco had 39 in September 1963.
"You do the math there," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. "You're not able to do a lot when you don't have the ball."
Without Williams and Pittman, the Tampa Bay ground game went nowhere, and with first-time starter Donald Penn replacing left tackle Luke Petitgout, quarterback Jeff Garcia was under constant pressure from three-time Pro Bowler Dwight Freeney and defensive tackle Raheem Brock.