Keeping Possession:
Phillip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers were able to hold off one of the top teams in the AFC on Monday Night Football. It was Colts QB Andrew Lucks first Monday Night game and it didn't end as well as he would have liked. The Chargers were able to hold the hot offense of the Colts to a lousy 3 Field Goals, while also being able to control the time of possession and keeping Luck off the field during most of the 4th Qtr. The Colts were only able to run 17 rush plays and 30 pass plays while San Diego was able to keep a balanced offense with 37 rushing plays and 33 pass plays.
Chargers RB Ryan Matthews was able to eclipse 100 yds rushing for the first time this season and backup RB Danny Woodhead was able to put up 83 all-purpose yds. Chargers rookie WR Keenan Allen is looking more and more like a pro and a favorite of Phillip Rivers every game, Allen was able to grab 9 Rec for 107 yds and 1 TD. This was Allen's second 100 yd receiving game and has scored 2 TD's in the past 2 Weeks. The biggest factor for the Chargers on Monday Night was their offensive line, who was able to hold the Colts to 2 Sacks all night (Chargers only recorded 1 Sack in this game).
Although the Colts will want to forget this one quickly, WR Reggie Wayne will always have memories of this game because he eclipsed the 1,000 Rec. mark making him one of 9 NFL players with at least 1,000 receptions. One key point to the Colts loss last night were their dropped passes. The biggest drop came on a pass to TE Coby Fleener (Luck's College Teammate) who could have had a chance at scoring a TD up the middle but just couldn't get the ball in his hands. After the game Colts coach Chuck Pagano said his team "Uncharacteristically" kept dropping passes. The Colts defense could not keep the Chargers off the field and let the Chargers slowly take the life out of the game.
This game also had a family connection as Colts head coach Chuck Pagano was taking on little brother John Pagano, the defensive coordinator for the Chargers. All in all this was a great game for the Charger's who were already fearing their season would meet the same demise as many of their recent seasons, and a shameful game for the Colts who will have areas to improve upon before their next game.
SD over IND 19-9
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