Last night the Indianapolis Colts went on the road to face their AFC South rival, the Tennessee Titans. With both teams sporting a 2-3 record this was a key match-up, as the winner would be tied in first place for the division lead, while the loser would be in the cellar by themselves. The Titans got a boost going into the match-up, as starting quarterback Marcus Mariota returned after missing last weeks game.
An offensive first half of football
The Titans moved the ball well on their first drive of the game but had to settle for a 48-yard field goal attempt, which gave kicker Ryan Succop the record for most consecutive field goals made under 50 yards.
Indianapolis also drove down on their first drive and settled for a 36-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal after Donte Moncrief dropped a touchdown.
Ryan Succop (TEN): 5-5 on FGA. Succop has made an NFL record 51 consecutive FG from inside 50 yards (via @EliasSports).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 17, 2017
Tennessee then settled for a 32-yard field goal prior to the end of the first quarter to make it 6-3. The Colts then got the game's first touchdown on an eight-yard pass to tight end Jack Doyle. The Titans responded with yet another 40-yard field goal, which the Colts countered by making their own 25-yard field goal with 14 seconds left before halftime to make it 13-9.
Colts shut down in second half
The Colts opened the second half by going three and out, with the first punt of the game taking place. Mariota then got picked off on their first play by linebacker John Simon, who returned it for a 26-yard touchdown. Vinatieri then missed the extra point to make it a 19-9 game.
The rest of the third quarter saw the Colts punt twice and turn the ball over on a fumble by Doyle.
Meanwhile, Tennessee had the ball three times, punting once but tacking on two field goals to make it 19-15. The Titans then mounted an impressive 15 play, 87-yard drive that took 8:24 to take a 22-19 lead in the fourth quarter on a three-yard touchdown run by DeMarco Murray.
DeMarco Murray has 39 Rush TD since the start of 2013 (most in NFL over span).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 17, 2017
Indianapolis's offense finally got going, as they managed a 52-yard field goal with 7:27 left to tie the game.
Tennessee then responded with a 52-yard touchdown pass to rookie Taywan Taylor to make it 29-22. The Colts then drove down, facing a fourth-and-one at Tennessee's 13-yard line with 2:26 left.
They did a quarterback bootleg with Jacoby Brissett, and linebacker Wesley Woodyard made a great play to keep him from getting the first down. The Colts then used their timeouts to try to get the ball back, as Tennessee was third-and-five with 47 seconds left. However, Derek Henry broke off a 72-yard touchdown run to put an exclamation point on the Titans 36-22 victory, snapping their 11-game losing streak to the Colts.
Second half adjustments? What adjustments. #Colts have now been outscored 126-44 points in 2nd half of games this year. Let that marinate.
— Luke Schultheis (@LuckAtLuke) October 17, 2017
Titans have lost 11 straight games to Colts
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) October 16, 2017
Last win: Matt Hasselbeck led Titans past 0-7 Colts team led by Curtis Painter in Week 8, 2011