San Diego Chargers Start Fast, Hold on to Beat Indianapolis Colts

Darren Sproles provided the spark for the Charges in the first quarter as he returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown to give San Diego an early 7-0 lead. After Nate Kaeding kicked a 33-yard field goal to boost the advantage to 10-0 it was Sproles again who changed the scoreboard. This time he returned a punt 55-yards for a touchdown and after the opening frame the Chargers were up 16-0.

Peyton Manning threw three of his six interceptions in the opening quarter to put the Colts in a deep hole and it didn’t get much better in the second as Manning was picked off again in the opening minute. San Diego then went to LaDainian Tomlinson who managed to muscle his way in from 4-yards out and the Chargers were up 23-0.

Manning finally led a scoring drive before halftime as he hit Reggie Wayne on a 8-yard touchdown pass to bring the Colts to within 23-7. Indianapolis had a chance to tack on another three before the break but Adam Vinatieri missed a 42-yarder just before the half ended.

The second half started much the same way the first half did for Manning as he threw his fifth interception of the game on the Colts opening drive. Neither team could score in the frame and Indianapolis went into the fourth still trailing 23-7.

Manning did hit Kenton Keith for a 7-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to bring the Colts to within nine and after the Chargers fumbled the Colts found the endzone once again but their two-point conversion attempt failed and they trailed 23-21 with just over 14 minutes remaining.

San Diego’s offense couldn’t move the ball at all in the fourth which gave the Colts a perfect opportunity to earn a win but Indy fell short in an unsuspecting manner. With just under six minute left in eth game the Colts began a drive that took them down to the Chargers 11 yard line but Vinatieri missed a 29-yard field goal with 1:34 on the clock and the Chargers had the game.

Manning finished the game with 328 yards passing and two touchdowns but also tossed six interceptions. The loss dropped the Colts to 7-2 while the Chargers improved to 5-4 on the season. - Source: TransWorld News