By Tom James
Tribune-Star Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS
November 12, 2008 10:48 pm
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With the Indianapolis Colts beginning preparations for Sunday’s NFL home game with the Houston Texans (1 p.m., CBS), don’t expect Tony Dungy’s team to take their AFC South rivals for granted.
Yes, the Colts are 5-4 and have posted consecutive wins over the likes of the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers. And, yes, Indianapolis has won 12 of its last 13 meetings with the Texans. But Dungy won’t allow anyone to become to enamored of the Colts’ recent run of success or become dismissive of the Texans’ 3-6 won-loss record.
All the Indianapolis coach has to do is to remind his team of the last matchup with Houston, a 31-27 decision at Reliant Stadium on Oct. 5 that required Indianapolis to come up with a 21-point rally late in the game in order to pull out the improbable victory.
“Getting ready for Houston, we had a chance to look [at a videotape] of that first game. If we were in any stages of complacency, I think our players looking at that game should take that out of us,” Dungy said Wednesday.
“We got off to a great start [in the earlier meeting], got up 10-0 and then they put up 27 unanswered points. I think we saw their whole arsenal. The front seven people they have on defense, [wide receiver] Andre Johnson and some good [running] backs. We have to continue to work and see if we can play better than we have the last couple of weeks and defend our home turf.”
The Colts have posted a 2-2 regular-season record at Lucas Oil Stadium this year, winning their last two games against Baltimore and the Patriots after early losses to Chicago and Jacksonville.
“It’s obviously a big game for us being back at home and trying to get on a three-game winning streak [this season] for the first time. I think we’ll have good work and good concentration [during practice this week]. And that’s what we’ll need,” the Indianapolis coach said.
What happened in that first game won’t have any effect on how the Colts perform Sunday.
“It’s one of those things, a perfect storm. We got into the no-huddle offense down 17 points, so that picked up the tempo for us a little bit. We hit a fourth-down pass to [rookie tight end] Tom Santi [for a touchdown] that they really had covered well,” Dungy recalled.
“We don’t get the on-side kick, so you’re feeling like, it’s really going to be desperate now,’ and we got a fumble recovery [by middle linebacker Gary Brackett] for a quick touchdown. To get those 14 points real fast like that is just one of those things that doesn’t normally happen. The thing you have to credit our guys with is they continued to play. They didn’t say, ‘We didn’t get the on-side kick, so the game’s over.’ Once we got back in it, [Indianapolis] made some plays down the stretch.”
With the Colts struggling to stay in contention for an AFC playoff wild card, that win in Houston bears even more significance.
“They’re all important. Obviously, when you get one [win] when you’re down 17 points or when you’re down 15 at Minnesota, those aren’t [games] you expect to get necessarily. But if you work hard and continue to play, I think that’s the moral of the story,” the Indianapolis coach said.
• • •
• Manning isn’t pointing fingers — Peyton Manning preferred to blame himself for any incomplete passes to veteran wide receiver Marvin Harrison in Sunday’s 24-20 win over Pittsburgh.
While he hauled in three passes for 37 yards against the Steelers, there were three other passes to Harrison that were not caught. In all three instances, he was behind the Pittsburgh secondary for apparent touchdowns but couldn’t come up with Manning’s throws.
“Every time you throw an incompletion, everybody wants to know, ‘What’s wrong? How can that possibly happen?’ I’m trying to make good throws, and every time I throw an incompletion I always look to see if I could have made a better throw or not. Everybody’s making a big deal about the [Pittsburgh] game [Sunday] night. I thought I could have made some better throws in that game,” the Colts quarterback said Wednesday.
“Some of those should have been in-stride catches with a better ball. So I think everybody’s overreacting a little bit about all that.”
As for thoughts that Harrison’s age was beginning to dull his abilities as an NFL receiver, Manning indicated otherwise.
“He’s in unbelievable shape for a player that’s been playing as long as he has. He comes to practice and practices as hard as he can every single day. It’s a real credit to him. He’s always been a great professional that way. He’s still getting open. When he’s open, it’s my job to get the ball to him and hit him. So I need to do a better job of that,” he said.
“I didn’t get a great look [at one pass across the middle where Harrison had broken open] at that. It was disappointing on my part. He was so wide open. Believe it or not, sometimes those are the harder throws. Sometimes, I’d rather he or Reggie [Wayne] be blanketed by a guy so I know I have to put it in this spot. When a guy’s wide open, it’s like that layup in basketball that sometimes can be hard to hit. I threw it up probably a little quicker than I wanted to and just put it in an awkward spot. I didn’t see it as anything more than a throw that could have been a little bit better.”
• Injury list — Thirteen players missed practice Wednesday, including regular rest days by defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, strong safety Bob Sanders, middle linebacker Gary Brackett and cornerback Tim Jennings. All five are expected back for Thursday’s workout.
Also sitting out were free safety Antoine Bethea (ankle), wide receivers Roy Hall (hamstring/knee), Anthony Gonzalez (hamstring) and Reggie Wayne (ankle), cornerbacks Kelvin Hayden (hamstring) and Keiwan Ratliff (quadriceps), defensive tackle Daniel Muir (hamstring) and rookie tight end Tom Santi (shoulder).
Hall and Hayden have both missed multiple games this season and probably will miss Sunday’s matchup with Houston. Gonzalez, Wayne, Ratliff, Muir and Santi may see limited work in practice this week.
“We’re probably going to hold [Wayne] out of a lot of stuff early in the week,” Dungy said. “Hopefully, by Friday, we can get him going. I think he’ll be able to play and do fine. But he’s gotten rolled up on both legs in the last three weeks and it’s going to be tough practicing for him. But I think [by] game day, he’ll be there.”
Offensive guard Ryan Lilja (knee) was scheduled to see an increased work load in practice this week. Lilja, who is on the Colts’ physically unable to perform list, began working out last week. The team now has until next week to make a decision on whether to leave him on the PUP list or activate him to the regular-season roster.
“Ryan is going to practice and do some things. We’ll see how he gets through it,” the Colts coach said.
• Manning nominated for FedEx — Manning has been nominated for the second week in a row for FedEx Air Player of the Week honors.
Manning completed 21 of 40 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns in the Colts’ win at Pittsburgh last week. Fans interested in casting a vote for the Indianapolis quarterback can go to NFL.com/FedEx. All votes must be in by 11 a.m. Friday.
If he wins, a $1,000 donation will go to the local Safe Kids coalition in Indianapolis.
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