Manning-Up !

1st Qtr: Indy won the toss and took the ball. Peyton Manning took 9 plays to drive the Colts down to the Chargers 9, where it was 4th and about inches after "the Edge" came up a bit short on the third down conversion. Feeling that this wasn't going to be a game of field goals Indy's coach decided to go for it on 4th down and with SD looking pass all the way James sliced for 5 yards down to the SD's 4 for a 1st. On the next play SD came up tight showing blitz, but instead stayed in tight coverage. Marvin Harrison was able to slip by and Manning hit him with a perfect fade to make it 6-0. Vanderjagt added the PAT and the score was 7-0 Colts with 9:43 left in the opening quarter. The Chargers started off with great field position thanks to a 31 yard KR by Jesse Chatman. On their first play from scrimmage, gunslinger Drew Brees, threw into double coverage to Eric Parker, who shook both defenders for 24 yards before Waine Bacon tackled him on Indy's 35. Brees kept the Colts off balance and on 3rd and goal from Indy's 14 he decided to go for the end zone. Kassim Osgood had some separation, but Jason David was able to recover and pick off Brees' throw to end the drive. Taking over from his own 20 Manning began to drive his team. After having to take a time out to prevent a delay of game Manning was facing 3rd and 7 from his own 36 as he threaded the needle to Reggie Wayne who had double coverage on him. That long pass was good for 35 yards as the Colts were now deep in Charger territory (their 29 yd line). On 2nd and 10 Manning hit Dallas Clark over the middle for a first down. A frustrated Zeke Moreno led with his head on the tackle and was flagged with an Unnecessary Roughness penalty that was assessed half the distance to the goal line. With first and goal form SD's 9 Manning saw soft coverage and went underneath to backup TE Ben Hartsock, who was untouched until he went out of bounds on the 1. Edgerrin James got the call on 2nd and goal from the 1 and was stuffed by Jason Fisk. Indy went with the same exact play and SD stuffed him again leading to a key 4th and goal from the 1. With all that firepower on their side the Colts elected to go for it. SD again loaded up for the run but Manning checked off at the line and hit Marcus Pollard with a quick dump pass that went for 6. That 11 play 80 yard drive took 5:19.

The 2nd quarter started with SD getting pinned deep in their zone thanks to a hold on the kick return. Brees went immediately to the air and attempted o hit Eric Parker, but Nicholas Harper jumped the route and picked the ball off. Before the Colts could celebrate the ref was standing right next to a flag, which was thrown for Pass Interference. The turnover was negated and the Charges had a new set of downs on their 25. Indy then jumped offside giving SD a 1st and 5. The Colts expected a deep pass and were shocked when Brees hit LaDainian Tomlinson with a screen pass that he took for 39 yards down to Indy's 31. Brees managed to drive his team down to the Colt 12 when he faced a 3rd and 7 situation that he could not complete. His intended receiver, Kassim Osgood, couldn't shake Nick Harper, who batted the pass down to the carpet. Nate Kaeding came on to attempt a 29 yard chip shot, but Josh Williams broke through the line and got his hand on the kick and blocked it. The Colts took over possession from their own 23. A full blitz by SD was torched by a 27 yard pass from Manning to Harrison. Another blitz got burned by a 23 yard run by James. A few plays later on 3rd and 6 from SD's 11 Manning pulled away from center too fast and bobbled the exchange with Jeff Saturday. Jamal Williams pounced on the ball and just like that the Colts blew a golden opportunity to build on their 14-0 lead. SD went 3 and out and the Colts, after a Mike Scifres punt, took over on their own 43 with 4:44 left to play in the half. SD went back to the blitz, but Steve Foley barely missed Manning who gunned it to Harrison for 22 yards to give them a first down on SD's 35. On a 3rd and 11 from SD's 25 Manning hit Brandon Stokley for 16 yards to make it first and goal from the 9 with 1:08 to play. Manning went to the end zone and Quentin Jammer interfered with Marcus Pollard to save a sure TD. That setup a 1st and goal from the one where the Chargers defense made a gallant stand. With :08 left on the clock on the 1 the Colts decided to try for one more play to get into the end zone. SD was setup in run D, but Manning overthrew Reggie Wayne as time expired. Indy might have made a key miscalculation not taking the easy FG and going up 3 scores.

San Diego started the second half on a mission as Brees drove his offense down to Indy's 20. On 3rd and 5 a medium pass to Antonio Gates fell harmlessly to the turf and Nate Kaeding came on to nail a 37 yarder to put SD on the board. In 3 plays Manning drove the Colts deep into SD's territory, but go greedy trying to hit Reggie Wayne on a fly route. Jerry Wilson stepped in front of a poorly thrown ball and picked it off on the 18. Jesse Chatman was brought in by SD to spell LT. The colts immediately smelled a red herring and decided to key the replacement back. Unfortunately for the Colts Chatman found that little hole to break through and he ran 62 yards downfield before Nick Harper could track him down from behind. That gave SD the ball on Indy's 17 and a chance to make this game close. With 3rd and goal from the Colt's 11 Brees hit TE Antonio Gates for 6 yards, but he wound up 5 short of the end zone and Kaeding was forced to come on to nail a 22 yarder to make the score 14-6 IND. The Colts couldn't muster up much offense on the next set and Hunter Smith was forced to punt. SD took over on their own 32 down by 8 with 1:13 left to go in the 3rd. Indy decided to double cover Caldwell and Brees hit Gates for 19 yards to get to almost mid field. On the next play Brees saw his intended receiver Eric Parker being doubled and looked him off and hit Gates who also was seeing a cover 2. Gates being the outstanding athlete that he is gained 17 yards after the catch to put the ball on Indy's 28 as the 3rd quarter expired.

To open the 4th LT had 2 quick runs for a first down on the 18. On a 3rd consecutive run attempt Dwight Freeney stuffed him at the line of scrimmage to make it 2nd and 10. Indy smelled pass on the next play, but chose to double the wrong two receivers as Eric Parker grabbed the ball on the 1, but lost 2 yards as he circled back and attempted to get something that wasn't there. On the following play the Colts sold out on the run and Brees punished them with a quick 3 yard toss to Antonio Gates to make ith 14-12. It was a no brainer to decide to go for 2 and that's exactly what SD did. Brees hit Gates with another quick toss even though he was being doubled. Just like that this contest was now tied at 14 with almost 11 and a half minutes left to go. Dominic Rhodes took received the ensuing kickoff on his 9 and followed his blockers down to the 31. Uncharacteristically the Colt offense faltered and went 3 and out. Eric Parker accepted a fair catch on his 21 yard line after Hunter Smith hit a beautiful hanging 41 yard punt. Indy keyed the run and again Brees went to the air with a 17 yard strike to Reche Caldwell, who got a step on Jason David. Brees must have seen something on the previous play that led him to believe that Caldwell could do it again. This time he hit him in stride for a 36 yard strike that took the Charges down to Indy's 26 with 7:48 left in the contest. Inexplicably SD got conservative and gained nothing on 2 LT runs that went for -2. On 3rd and 12 from Indy's 28 Brees attempted to hit Osgood with a long pass that was way off the mark. Kaeding hit a 45 yarder like it was a chip shot and SD had it's first lead of the game (17-14) with just over 6 minutes left in the game. Rhodes took the kickoff 28 yards to his own 38 as Kaeding was barely able to kick it to the 10. The calm, cool and collected Peyton Manning immediately went to work hitting Dallas Clark for 9 yards to take it to almost mid field. On 2nd & 1 SD loaded up for the run against James and Manning audibled at the line. Reggie Wayne went deep and Manning hit him in stride for 36 yards. If not for a game saving tackle by Sammy Davis, Wayne would have found paydirt. At this point Manning is "feeling it" and immediately he goes to "the Edge" with a nicely designed screen. Poor SD tackling allowed Edgerrin James to weave in and out for 17 yards and a TD. With the XP Indy was now up 21-17 with 4:33 left...still plenty of time for Brees and company. SD started their drive on their 33 with 4:24 left to play. Against a zone D, LT went off tackle for 9 yards. Brees threw into double coverage and Caldwell could not come down with the ball. This left a key 3rd and 1. Brees was pressured on the next play and ran for his life and barely got back to the line of scrimmage. This setup a pivotal 4th and 1, which SD had to go for. With the money on the line Brees went to a double covered Gates and the All-Pro TE wrestled the ball way from Cato June for 5 yards and a key first down. With the ball on Indy's 40 and 1:15 left Brees was forced to run again for his life, but gained nothing and had to burn his team's first time out. On the next play he threw a ball poorly into double coverage that Von Hutchins easily batted down. Feeling the pressure from Freeney and company Brees hurried his throw to Caldwell on he next play and bounced it leaving a key 4th and 10 from Indy's 40 with just under a minute to go. Brees dropped back and looked deep for Caldwell, who again was being blanketed. Brees went with his check down to LT who was only able to get 4 yards and thus SD turned the ball over to Indy on downs. The Colts ran out the clock and evened their record to 2-2 after an 0-2 start. Despite 1 INT Manning was again his team's MVP after engineering the late 4th quarter come from behind drive. Peyton was 23 of 32 for 314 yards and 3 TD's. Reggie Wayne had 4 grabs for 113 yards for an incredible 28.2 ypc average.