Indianapolis Star article

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GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Game conditions at kickoff Sunday at Lambeau Field included a 20-mph breeze, gusting to 34. It was good day for a blowout, and the Green Bay Packers delivered one.

They exploited the Indianapolis Colts' many mistakes to score 31 consecutive points and batter their hapless, helpless guests 34-14.

The Colts next play on "Monday Night Football" next week at Tennessee (6-0), the NFL's lone unbeaten team. It figured to be a showdown. It will instead be a fight for survival.

They have only once won successive games this season. They need to finish 7-3 for a 10-6 record and a likely shot at a wild card.

The Colts won't get there playing the way they did Sunday. They had 12 penalties for 110 yards. The offense killed drives with mistakes. The defense extended Green Bay's.


The Packers failed to score on only one of their first five possessions. Mason Crosby missed a 36-yard field goal.

Green Bay's sore-armed quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, had a tidy day: 21-of-28 for 186 yards and one touchdown. He completed 13 straight at one point, and the string broke only because he spiked the football to stop the clock.

The Colts offense scored 14 points and gave up 14. It has had four turnovers, three interceptions and a fumble, returned for touchdowns this season.

The Colts have played in fits and spurts. They have made a season's worth of mistakes, offense, defense and special teams. They need to find answers.

"It's got to happen within the building," Colts tight end Dallas Clark said. "There's nothing, no one around us, who's going to give us anything. We've got to out there and do it ourselves."

It's on them, and time's wasting.

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Nick Collins sensed Peyton Manning was irritated early, long before the Green Bay Packers pulled away in a physical manhandling of the Indianapolis Colts 34-14 Sunday at Lambeau Field.

"In the first quarter, he was frustrated," the fourth-year safety said of Manning. "He was getting on his guys. They weren't doing a nice job of getting off our man-to-man coverage. He was kind of, you know, mad at them, but that's what we do. We beat them to the punch."

The Packers had watched Colts receivers sprint past Baltimore defenders last week and weren't about to let them repeat the performance. Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison, Anthony Gonzalez, anybody, the first priority for the Packers was to jam them at the line. And did it ever work.

Manning didn't have a scoring pass and completed just half of his 42 attempts. Wayne and Harrison each had just two catches.

Media reports and predictions had focused on how the Colts would get the better of the Packers.

"I kind of heard that (Sunday) morning, how banged up we were and about their high-powered offense," Packers cornerback Charles Woodson said. "But our main focus was to not change how we play. We're going to get up after guys on the line of scrimmage and not allow them to just run down the field."

And the Packers didn't just establish the nastiness on defense. They ran 44 offensive plays in the opening half. Each drive was double digits. CBS analyst Phil Simms said during the network's coverage of the game that it was obvious the Packers were just too physical for the Colts.

"Well, Phil is a smart guy," said Packers right tackle Mark Tauscher. "Obviously, that's something we wanted to do. From a physical standpoint, especially playing at home and being able to get off on the snap count, we felt like we should be able to run the football today."

That they did. Packers running back Ryan Grant rushed for 105 yards, topping 100 yards for the first time this season, although it required a last-chance carry on a meaningless final possession.

The knock on the Packers (4-3) entering this game was they had yet to defeat a quality team -- previous victories were against Minnesota, Detroit and Seattle. Perhaps the argument could still be made, based on how poorly the Colts (3-3) played, but Green Bay enters its bye with confidence and swagger.

"This one was very sweet for us," said Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who hit on 13 consecutive passes in the second quarter despite playing again with a sprained throwing shoulder.