Colts Slip By Peyton Manning And The Broncos For Upset Win

Luck wasn’t on the Denver Broncos’ side, and things turned around for The Indianapolis Colts. The Broncos fell from the list of the unbeaten and lost to the Colts 27-24 on Sunday Night Football.

Peyton Manning was trying to set career records for passing yards and wins in the game against the Colts. But the Broncos ran out of good fortune and timely defense in the loss to Indianapolis. Manning was more concerned about the loss than the records, as reported by ESPN.

“I feel like I’m able to focus on the task at hand, just try to win the football game,” Manning said. “So, that’s what I was trying to do. We had some chances, we came up short.”

It was the end of a streak of defense-inspired wins for the Broncos(7-1), who have sealed games this season with touchdowns or well-timed sacks. Not even Omar Bolden’s 83-yard punt return for a touchdown on the last play of the first half could save the Broncos this time around. The Broncos were the only undefeated team to lose in Week 9.

Andrew Luck finally put together a complete game – and the Colts finally looked like the team everyone expected. Luck threw two touchdown passes and set up the Colts’ Adam Vinatieri for a tie-breaking 55-yard field goal with 6:13 left, to spoil Peyton Manning’s return to Lucas Oil Stadium.

“That’s who we need to be, consistently,” Luck said. ”Probably a little bit of soul searching, trying to figure out what we want to be. The truth of the matter is we have the pieces, which is pretty darn obvious.”

The Colts (4-5) ended a three-game losing streak, won for the first time in six tries outside the horrible AFC South, and retained their division lead.

Luck led the Colts on drives that helped secure the win when it seemed the game might slip away. The first ended with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Ahmad Bradshaw that gave Indy a 24-17 lead. After Manning tied the score again, Luck took the Colts back down the field and set up Vinatieri for his longest field goal since coming to the Colts in 2006.

”We dug ourselves a hole in the first half and showed a lot of character getting out of that hole,” Denver coach Gary Kubiak said. ”We just weren’t able to close the deal after battling our way back. They finished it, we didn’t.”

Though the night didn’t end in records for Manning, Luck was showing off for the Colts. The evening was notable for Luck in that he recorded 100 passing touchdowns in his career.

Andrew Luck joins the 100 TD club! Who was more impressive at 100, Luck or Manning? pic.twitter.com/sB9VftWb4R

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 8, 2015

This was undoubtedly the Colts’ biggest win of the season, and the offense made some positive strides in Chudzinski’s first game as interim offensive coordinator. Luck still faced heavy pressure at times, but that was to be expected against a tough Broncos defense.

The Colts have a week off before taking on the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11. That extra time should allow Chudzinski even more time to implement his game plan and leave his stamp on the Colts offense.

America finally got to see the real Andrew luck. Receiver T. Y. Hilton said, per the Indianapolis Star, Luck wasn’t content with the performance he turned in against the Panthers. The Colts’ determined to do better in prime-time.

“He was very different,” Hilton said. “He came out of that Monday game knowing he wasn’t playing like himself. He said, ‘You’re going to see a different Andrew this week. I’m going to play different.’ That’s what he did. He went back to being Andrew.”

Luck was with the Colts and luck was definitely not with the Broncos.

[Feature Photo by Andy Lyons / Getty Images]