The key was the defense and a gaggle of second-year and third year players that stepped in to make the Colts even better than last year.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The Indianapolis Colts looked just as formidable on offense as they did when they won the Super Bowl last season.
And even better on defense.
Shaking off a sluggish first half, the Colts outscored New Orleans 31-0 after intermission in Thursday night's NFL opener to beat the Saints 41-10. At the same time, they served notice to New England, San Diego and other highly touted teams that losing six players who started the Super Bowl last season hasn't slowed them down a bit.
Four of them were on a defense that didn't allow a touchdown Thursday night.
"All offseason, that's what everyone talked about, that the defense has lost all these guys," said Peyton Manning, who threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns. "A lot of young guys played good tonight. It's only one game and there's a long way to go, but we played really well tonight."
Playing against his hometown team, Manning threw two TD passes to Reggie Wayne and another to Marvin Harrison. Joseph Addai ran for 118 yards on 23 carries and that super-quick defense shut down Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and the explosive New Orleans offense.
The game was tied 10-10 after a sloppy first half.
But Manning led two quick TD drives in the first 8:49 of the second half as the Colts put up 24 points in 20 minutes after intermission. On the first drive, Manning hit Harrison for 42 yards to set up a 2-yard TD run by Addai. Then the Super Bowl MVP came right back to throw a 28-yard TD pass to Wayne.
"NFL games are 60 minutes long. We were a little out of synch in the first half," coach Tony Dungy said. "They played us defensively a little different than we thought. We knew we had to run the ball a little more."
Another major player -- for both sides -- was New Orleans cornerback Jason David, who started for the Colts in their Super Bowl win over Chicago and then left as a free agent. He was victimized by Harrison on a 27-yard TD pass in the first half and again by Wayne on both his scores, the second a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter.
But David also produced the Saints' only TD, stripping Wayne after a second-quarter completion, picking up the ball and returning it 55 yards for the score.
"We don't do that," Manning said when asked if he deliberately went at David. "We had the right calls at the right time. With Marvin and Reggie, you're always going to throw it to those guys. If you have a good day, they say you're picking on one guy. We really don't do that."
David said he had to get used to a new scheme in New Orleans but didn't have any excuses.
"Any time you come back and play a team you used to play for, you want to play your best game," he said. "I didn't play my best game tonight. All the plays you saw tonight ... that's on me. There's nobody else to blame but me."
Wayne finished with seven catches for 115 yards.
"The joke in the locker room is that I scored on both sides of the ball," Wayne said of his run-ins with his former teammate. "I gave him a free touchdown, so I guess that was the appreciation we gave him."
The game finally put the focus back on football after an offseason dominated by player discipline problems and long suspensions, most notably involving Michael Vick and Adam Jones. Commissioner Roger Goodell, who was at the game, said beforehand, "I think we're ready now to get the focus back on football."
It took a little while before Manning got the Colts' offense focused.
Manning was just 8-of-17 for 101 yards in the first half, 66 of those yards on two completions: the 27-yard TD to Harrison, plus 39 on a throw to tight end Dallas Clark that set up Adam Vinatieri's 33-yard field goal that tied the game at 10.
But the Saints, who reached the NFC title game last season before losing to Chicago, could never get their potent offense going.
"I thought at halftime, being on the road and with all that went on we were in good shape," New Orleans coach Sean Payton said. "But we had some miscues. Our inability to convert third downs and keep the ball hurt us."
Colts TE Dallas Clark is such an integral part of this offense. The Saints played a ton of Cover 2, but could not account for Clark in the passing game. Indianapolis used very few three receiver sets on first and second down, but created the same effect by splitting Clark out wide. The Colts also added a new wrinkle by putting Clark on one side and Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne on the other and it helped produce Harrison's first quarter TD catch.
In the third quarter, Clark drew the safety playing quarters coverage up while Wayne filled the void on his deep post for a huge touchdown that all but sealed the Colts victory.
Clark isn't known as a top blocker, but he was effective in sealing the edge for Indianapolis' stretch play. This play abused New Orleans which -- out of fear -- was reluctant to bring an extra defender into the box. Clark did a little of everything, including even getting a first down carrying the ball on an end around, and simply put, was instrumental in this win.
They had just 112 total yards in the first half, and Bush and Deuce McAllister each had just 21 yards rushing before intermission against a made-over Indianapolis defense. That unit included undrafted rookie Ed Johnson at defensive tackle in place of Anthony McFarland, out for the season with a knee injury.
Both finished with just 38 yards, Bush on 12 carries and McAllister on 10. Brees was 27-of-40 for 183 yards and two interceptions.
"It just felt like we never got in synch," Brees said. "We felt we hadn't accomplished much in the first half so we were chomping at the bit to get out there and sustain some drives. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe we needed to get our butts kicked tonight to get a little fire going."
The only score by the New Orleans offense was a 34-yard field goal by Olindo Mare in the second quarter after a nine-play, 36-yard drive. From the middle of that quarter until the middle of the fourth, the Saints ran just one play in Indianapolis territory and that was for a 2-yard loss.
Indy linebacker Freddy Keiaho, replacing departed free agent Cato June, was outstanding.
In the second quarter, he drove through a blocker, carrying him into Bush and dropping the runner for a 5-yard loss. In the third quarter, he picked off a pass that led to a 33-yard field goal by Vinatieri that made it 27-10 in the first minute of the final quarter.
The Colts took a 7-0 lead on the Manning-to-Harrison TD in the first quarter. David's play tied the game, and Mare's field goal put the Saints up 10-7. That lasted until the late drive keyed by the Manning-Clark hookup.
Then the Colts took over completely in the second half.
The Manning-Wayne 45-yarder made it 34-10 five minutes into the fourth quarter and Matt Giordano's 83-yard interception return closed the scoring.
2007 Kick-off Party invades NYC Chelsea Hotspot
The NFL Draft Bible and Fieldposition have teamed up to bring you the first NFL season Kick-off Party ever to have it's own Podcast. Recording live from "Flight 151" in the Heart of Chelsea this Thursday night, the Party will feature Football Trivia, $2 Coors light's, and hopefully Lots of Good football fun. Hosted By NFL Draft Bible's CEO Ric Serritella and it's SR. VP, and field scout, as well as Fieldposition.com and SBS Football Personality Dr. Bill Chachkes, the Party and Podcast start at 7 Pm eastern, and is located at 151 8th av bt 17th and 18th streets(Yes Zennie, only a few blocks from Murry's Bagels!!)
Patriots' Rodney Harrison to be suspended 4 games, reportedly for HGH
By JIMMY GOLEN, AP Sports Writer
September 1, 2007
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- Rodney Harrison, the frequently fined strong safety who solidified the New England Patriots' defense through back-to-back Super Bowl victories, will miss the first four games of the NFL season for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
"Tomorrow, the commissioner will announce I have been suspended," a somber Harrison said in a hastily announced conference call with reporters on Friday night after ESPN.com reported that he had admitted obtaining human growth hormone.
Harrison did not take questions or confirm the banned substance involved.
"I want to make it clear that not once did I ever use steroids," he said. "I did admit to the commissioner that I did, in fact, use a banned substance."
The league issued a statement late Friday night confirming that Harrison is suspended without pay for four games, effective immediately. He is eligible to return to the active roster on Tuesday, Oct. 2, following the previous night's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the league said.
The NFL, meanwhile, confired that Wade Wilson, currently the Cowboys' quarterback coach, also admitted to NFL officials that he received illegal drugs.The NFL announced his suspension on Saturday.
According to the New York Daily News, Wilson admitted receiving HGH while working for the Chicago Bears from 2004-06. The league said that Harrison, Wilson and Richard Ryzde, a former doctor for the Pittsburgh Steelers, were involved in an internet drug operation being investigated by the Albany (N.Y.) District Attorney's office.
Ryzde was fired by the Steelers. League spokesman Greg Aiello said Saturday that those three were the people affiliated with the NFL involved with the operation.
The Patriots, who lost in the AFC championship game to the Indianapolis Colts last season, are considered favorites to reach the Super Bowl after a series of strong offseason acquisitions, including Adalius Thomas and Randy Moss. Harrison apologized for becoming a distraction to his team as it prepares for the Sept. 9 opener against the New York Jets.
"I will be absent from the team for the next four weeks. That is a penalty that I have to serve. I intend to return and do my best to really help this team in any capacity I can help this team get back to winning the championship," Harrison said.
"This is something that Rodney Harrison did, and Rodney Harrison did alone. My teammates didn't do it. As they prepare for the Jets and games after that, I would ask that you give them the respect, not badger them with questions because they don't have any information."
The team had no comment, spokesman Stacey James said.
Harrison also apologized for serving as a poor role model for young football players.
"I sent the wrong message with my actions," he said. "I have not made excuses, nor will I make excuses. I made a mistake and I am very sorry for that. ... I do not condone my behavior. I am very, very embarrassed by it. I am disappointed in myself."
In a 13-year career, Harrison has earned a reputation as one of the NFL's most aggressive players, one feared by opponents for bonecrushing hits they complain are cheap or illegal. The league often agrees, fining him more than $200,000 in his career, including a one-game suspension in 2002 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Oakland's Jerry Rice that cost him a game check of $111,764.
But as much as others hate to play against him, his teammates appreciate the way he practices, plays -- and talks -- at full speed.
On his second day of training camp after joining New England, Harrison took out elder statesman Troy Brown on a route across the middle. Brown threw the ball at him, but a month later a group of Patriots went to coach Bill Belichick and asked him to make Harrison one of the defensive captains.
"It wasn't about me making friends," Harrison said before the 2004 Super Bowl. "It was about me proving that I still had some gas in my tank and I could still play."
But it wasn't just gas in his tank.
As the hits took their toll on Harrison, he turned to banned substances to get back on the field.
"My purpose was never to gain a competitive edge," he said Friday night. "Rather, my use was solely for the purpose of accelerating the healing process of injuries I sustained while playing football.
The injuries came more frequently as Harrison, now 34, got older.
He was sidelined for eight games in 1999 with a shoulder injury. After injuring his ankle in 2002, the Chargers feared his career was in jeopardy and cut him.
Harrison quickly signed with New England and held together the defense for teams that won the 2004 and 2005 Super Bowls, sealing the second victory by intercepting Donovan McNabb with 9 seconds remaining.
But he played in just three games in 2005 before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and posterior cruciate ligaments. He broke his right shoulder blade last season and missed six games, then returned for two more before straining his right knee and missing the rest of the regular season and playoffs.
ESPN.com reported that Harrison's name came up in federal and New York state investigations into an Internet pharmaceutical distribution ring for steroids and other performance enhancers.
September 1, 2007
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- Rodney Harrison, the frequently fined strong safety who solidified the New England Patriots' defense through back-to-back Super Bowl victories, will miss the first four games of the NFL season for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
"Tomorrow, the commissioner will announce I have been suspended," a somber Harrison said in a hastily announced conference call with reporters on Friday night after ESPN.com reported that he had admitted obtaining human growth hormone.
Harrison did not take questions or confirm the banned substance involved.
"I want to make it clear that not once did I ever use steroids," he said. "I did admit to the commissioner that I did, in fact, use a banned substance."
The league issued a statement late Friday night confirming that Harrison is suspended without pay for four games, effective immediately. He is eligible to return to the active roster on Tuesday, Oct. 2, following the previous night's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the league said.
The NFL, meanwhile, confired that Wade Wilson, currently the Cowboys' quarterback coach, also admitted to NFL officials that he received illegal drugs.The NFL announced his suspension on Saturday.
According to the New York Daily News, Wilson admitted receiving HGH while working for the Chicago Bears from 2004-06. The league said that Harrison, Wilson and Richard Ryzde, a former doctor for the Pittsburgh Steelers, were involved in an internet drug operation being investigated by the Albany (N.Y.) District Attorney's office.
Ryzde was fired by the Steelers. League spokesman Greg Aiello said Saturday that those three were the people affiliated with the NFL involved with the operation.
The Patriots, who lost in the AFC championship game to the Indianapolis Colts last season, are considered favorites to reach the Super Bowl after a series of strong offseason acquisitions, including Adalius Thomas and Randy Moss. Harrison apologized for becoming a distraction to his team as it prepares for the Sept. 9 opener against the New York Jets.
"I will be absent from the team for the next four weeks. That is a penalty that I have to serve. I intend to return and do my best to really help this team in any capacity I can help this team get back to winning the championship," Harrison said.
"This is something that Rodney Harrison did, and Rodney Harrison did alone. My teammates didn't do it. As they prepare for the Jets and games after that, I would ask that you give them the respect, not badger them with questions because they don't have any information."
The team had no comment, spokesman Stacey James said.
Harrison also apologized for serving as a poor role model for young football players.
"I sent the wrong message with my actions," he said. "I have not made excuses, nor will I make excuses. I made a mistake and I am very sorry for that. ... I do not condone my behavior. I am very, very embarrassed by it. I am disappointed in myself."
In a 13-year career, Harrison has earned a reputation as one of the NFL's most aggressive players, one feared by opponents for bonecrushing hits they complain are cheap or illegal. The league often agrees, fining him more than $200,000 in his career, including a one-game suspension in 2002 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Oakland's Jerry Rice that cost him a game check of $111,764.
But as much as others hate to play against him, his teammates appreciate the way he practices, plays -- and talks -- at full speed.
On his second day of training camp after joining New England, Harrison took out elder statesman Troy Brown on a route across the middle. Brown threw the ball at him, but a month later a group of Patriots went to coach Bill Belichick and asked him to make Harrison one of the defensive captains.
"It wasn't about me making friends," Harrison said before the 2004 Super Bowl. "It was about me proving that I still had some gas in my tank and I could still play."
But it wasn't just gas in his tank.
As the hits took their toll on Harrison, he turned to banned substances to get back on the field.
"My purpose was never to gain a competitive edge," he said Friday night. "Rather, my use was solely for the purpose of accelerating the healing process of injuries I sustained while playing football.
The injuries came more frequently as Harrison, now 34, got older.
He was sidelined for eight games in 1999 with a shoulder injury. After injuring his ankle in 2002, the Chargers feared his career was in jeopardy and cut him.
Harrison quickly signed with New England and held together the defense for teams that won the 2004 and 2005 Super Bowls, sealing the second victory by intercepting Donovan McNabb with 9 seconds remaining.
But he played in just three games in 2005 before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and posterior cruciate ligaments. He broke his right shoulder blade last season and missed six games, then returned for two more before straining his right knee and missing the rest of the regular season and playoffs.
ESPN.com reported that Harrison's name came up in federal and New York state investigations into an Internet pharmaceutical distribution ring for steroids and other performance enhancers.
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