Colts' offense is fine, but defense is in pieces

Published online on Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis offense are playing to win a championship in 2009. But these days the Colts defense is playing for mere survival.

The Colts secondary was devastated in the last week, losing three starters with injuries. Safety Bob Sanders (elbow) and cornerback Marlin Jackson (knee) went on injured reserve. Cornerback Kelvin Hayden will be out indefinitely with a knee injury.

The last thing the Colts (8-0) needed to see Sunday was an elite passing team. The Houston Texans pulled into Indianapolis with the NFL's third-ranked passing attack.

But an inexperienced secondary survived Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson and the Texans, allowing the Colts to steal a 20-17 win.

The Colts started two rookies at cornerback - third-round draft pick Jerraud Powers and undrafted free agent Jacob Lacey - and promoted Melvin Bullitt at strong safety to replace Sanders. Powers and Bullitt are from Garland.

Schaub completed 32 passes for 311 yards, and Johnson caught 10 passes for 103 yards. But those yards did little damage to the Colts. Schuab threw only one touchdown pass, a mere 1-yarder to running back Ryan Moats.

Powers and linebacker Clint Session each intercepted Schaub, and safety Antoine Bethea, the one holdover starter in the secondary, recovered a Moats fumble. The three new starters in the defensive backfield also combined for 26 tackles.

The Colts got some help. Kris Brown, who boomed a 56-yard field goal for the Texans on the final play of the first half, was wide left on the final play with a 42-yard attempt that could have forced an overtime.

That young defensive backfield will barely have time to catch its breath, though. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots roll into Indianapolis this week, and the Texans will get a rematch in Houston in just three weeks.

QUICK HITS

Tampa Bay CB Ronde Barber returned a blocked punt 31 yards for a touchdown against Green Bay. It was his 14th career touchdown. Barber has returned eight interceptions, four fumbles and two blocked punts for scores in his 13-year career.

Speaking of the Buccaneers, rookie Josh Freeman won his starting debut at quarterback, completing 14 of 31 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-28 victory over the Green Bay Packers. Rookie NFL quarterbacks are 12-26 in their debut starts this decade. It was also the first victory for the Bucs and rookie coach Raheem Morris.

Brian Cushing intercepted Carson Palmer's 35th and final pass of an Oct. 18 game between the Houston Texans and Cincinnati Bengals. Palmer then engineered 10 consecutive scoring drives over a three-week period. He steered the Bengals to seven consecutive scores against the Chicago Bears in a 45-10 victory Oct. 25. After a bye week, Palmer steered Cincinnati to three consecutive scores to start the Baltimore game. That allowed the Bengals to open a 17-0 lead on the way to a 17-7 victory. Palmer delivered eight touchdowns and two field goals during those 10 consecutive possessions.

If the Arizona Cardinals played all 16 games on the road, they'd have a chance to defend their NFC title. In routing Chicago, 41-21, the Cardinals ran their road record to 4-0. But they are only 1-3 at home. That still puts them atop the NFC West at 5-3.

The Kansas City Chiefs were awarded WR Chris Chambers on waivers from the San Diego Chargers last week. He practiced with them for the first time Wednesday and immediately evolved into Matt Cassel's go-to guy. Chambers caught three passes in his KC debut for 70 yards, including two for touchdowns, in a 24-21 loss to Jacksonville.