SportsFullCircle

Behind seventeen unanswered points in the fourth quarter, the Indianapolis Colts secured their seventh consecutive playoff berth with a 31-24 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars, who were playing with heart in response to the return of Richard Collier, were leading 17 to 7 at the half.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who completed his first 17 passes of the game, finished the game 29-of-34 for 364 yards, throwing touchdown passes to Reggie Wayne, Dominic Rhodes, and Dallas Clark. Rhodes also ran the ball 14 times for 27 yards.

Jacksonville’s David Garrard completed 28 of 41 passes for 329 yards, throwing one pass to Jaguars wide receiver Dennis Northcutt, and another pass to Colts cornerback Keiwan Ratliff. Ratliff returned his interception 35 yards for the winning touchdown.

The Jaguars actually had a chance to win the game inside the last minute of the 4th quarter. However, with 29 seconds left in regulation, Maurice Jones-Drew sprained his knee at the Indianapolis 7-yard line after receiving a pass from Garrard. Because the Jaguars had no timeouts left, ten seconds were run off the clock, so the Jaguars had only 19 seconds left to try and score the tying touchdown. One incomplete pass and one sack later, the game was over.

Also noteworthy is Colts head coach Tony Dungy, who broke Tom Landry’s record of consecutive playoff appearances. Dungy will be making his 10th straight appearance in the postseason.