Week 5 Raiders 21, Colts 17

Oakland drove to the Indy 3-yard line on their first possession, but got greedy and came away empty on 4^th-and-1. Peyton Manning (20-32, 276 yards, 2 TD) led the Colts on a 97-yard drive, capped by a 26-yard strike to Reggie Wayne (4-82, TD) to give the visitors a 7-0 lead late in the 1^st. Oakland tied it up midway through the 2^nd quarter on a Zack Crockett 2-yard run, then took a 14-7 lead as halftime neared when Rich Gannon (28-36, 317, TD, Int) connected with Jerry Porter (2-26) on a quick 5-yard slant.

Indianapolis forced the first turnover of the day early in the second half when Gannon was sacked by Raheem Brock. The Colts recovered on the Oakland 43-yard line and moved close enough for Mike Vanderjagt to hit a 26-yard FG to cut the lead to 14-10. Early in the 4^th, Oakland’s Tim Brown (5-82) coughed up the ball deep in Raider territory. After two incomplete passes, Manning was sacked for an 8-yard loss, and that was just enough to put the Colts out of Vanderjagt’s range, as he missed from 52 yards out. But Oakland was not out of the woods just yet. Waine Bacon intercepted an errant Gannon pass- Oakland’s 3^rd turnover of the day- and Manning led the Colts 58 yards to put them on top 17-14 with 4:38 to play. Terry Kirby returned the ensuing kickoff 44 yards to the Indianapolis 36-yard line, and the Raiders were within 1 first down of FG range to tie it up. Instead they marched deep into Colt territory and faced 3^rd-and-Goal from the 2-yard line, at least until a false start pushed them back 5 yards. On 3^rd-and-Goal from the 7, Gannon connected with Tim Brown, but Brown was stopped just shy of the goal at the 1-yard line. On 4^th-and-Goal from the 1, Oakland opted against the game-tying FG and instead placed their faith in FB Zack Crockett. Crockett bulled his way in as time expired, and the Raiders won 21-17. --submitted by Dan Donovan--