Indianapolis Colts, 45 Kansas City Chiefs, 44
I would chalk up the 89 point, 1,049 yard shoot-out as a genuine surprise. Everyone was surprised when the Chiefs took a 28 point lead without RB Jamaal Charles, and everyone was surprised again when QB Andrew Luck erased that lead and won the game by 1 point. Truly, I would characterize the entire game as 'surprising' and leave it at that.
The Chiefs lost Jamaal Charles to a concussion on the first drive of the game, but Alex Smith took to the air aggressively, hitting a 63-yard knife to WR Dwayne Bowe and a 79 yard bomb to WR Donnie Avery. RB Knile Davis, though injured in the 4th quarter, ran well. Kansas City QB Alex Smith also ran hard, improvised well, completing two improbable shovel passes when protection broke down including a 5 yard TD to help the Chiefs to a 31-10 lead at half.
Down 21 points, Andrew Luck did not spark a revolution right away. The first play of the 2nd half was intercepted, followed quickly by a Smith-to-Kniles capitalization. The score was a bleak 38-10 against the home team. But Andrew Luck continued to fire and WR TY Hilton, as he had on the first drive of the game, ran free. Hilton would finish the day with 13 catches for 224 yards.
It was still a bumpy road, after two Colts TDs brought it to 38-24, Luck again was intercepted. If there's credit to go defense in this game it's to Indianapolis' D for holding the Chiefs to a field goal after the interception and DE Robert Mathis forcing a fumble to help the Colts cut the lead even further. By this point, Luck, Hilton and RB Donald Brown were so hot the comeback seemed a foregone conclusion, culminating in a 64 yard go ahead strike to who else but TY Hilton.
KEY PLAY - Disaster and Glory literally hung in the air on a 2nd and goal when Donald Brown was stripped by S Eric Berry, the Chiefs seemed poised to recover the floating fumble into the backfield and preserve their 10-point lead (41-31 at that point). Inexplicably Andrew Luck was able to cut back, recover, and advance the ball diving through the middle for a touchdown.
MVP: Andrew Luck became a superstar today.
New Orleans Saints, 26 Philadelphia Eagles, 24
After the offensive fireworks we saw in the first game it was startling to see the Eagles and Saints much-maligned defenses bully and batter the highly-touted, high-powered opposing offenses. The first quarter was scoreless and the half ended with the Eagles up 7-6. For the Saints, DE Cameron Jordon made plays including an 11-yard sack for a loss that took the Eagles out of the red zone and led to a missed field goal. For the Eagles, two key interceptions and hard hitting play out of the line backing code provided the bite needed to tame QB Drew Brees.
In the 2nd half, the Saints offense was able to click into gear, taking their first two drives of the half for 7 points. The Eagles came to life when injuries to Saints secondary truly left WR DeSean Jackson all alone out there, lanes opened for RB LeSean McCoy and QB Nick Foles found a rhythm after a shaky first half. The Eagles took the lead with a masterful late 4th quarter drive highlighted by a desperate pass interference penalty on a streaking DeSean Jackson.
The Eagles left 4:58 on the clock, gave up a good return to RB Darren Sproles, and the "soft, dome sweet dome" Saints pounded the ball in the cold with RB Mark Ingram and RB Khiry Robinson, gaining ground and killing time. K Shayne Graham's 32-yard field goal sealed it.
KEY PLAY: The final drive was highlighted by a 13-yard run by RB Khiry Robinson, after the defensive struggle of the first half, and the quick strike offensive drives in the 2nd half, the game came down pure ground-and-pound. This was the play that broke Philadelphia's back.
MVP: RB Mark Ingram ran hard, gaining 114 total yards, many after contact. The former Hesiman winner had been criticized heavily, even by the New Orleans fan base, but he showed heart and was the reason the Saints were able to win without a Herculean effort from Drew Brees.
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