Week 1 Game Recap: Indianapolis Colts 24, Baltimore Ravens 7

What you need to know

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts struggled against a great defense to open the game, only scoring three points in the first half. Reggie Wayne struggled to get open against Samari Rolle all night, which limited Peyton Manning’s options. Edgerrin James had trouble finding the outside all night, getting mugged down in the middle of the field often. Manning hit his groove in the second half though, hitting Marvin Harrison and Ben Utecht for touchdowns.

Dallas Clark missed the game, still suffering from symptoms of a concussion. Ben Utecht replaced him and caught a touchdown, but failed to catch three other passes thrown at him. Peyton Manning appeared visibly annoyed at Utecht after one of these drops.

The big news for Indianapolis was the improved defense. Dwight Freeney embarrassed Jonathan Ogden yet again on national television, using his speed and quickness to get the big man off balance. He didn’t get a sack out of it, but he forced several bad throws from Kyle Boller, and tackled Jamal Lewis in the backfield a couple of times.

Brandon Stokley showed no signs of his shoulder injury that sidelined him most of the preseason, catching seven passes for 83 yards on the night.

Baltimore Ravens

Jamal Lewis started the game and struggled, only posting a per carry average of three yards. His backup, Chester Taylor, was more successful but did most of his damage against backups.

Kyle Boller got hurt towards the end of the third quarter on a sack by Larry Tripplett. He was taken to the locker room for x-rays, the results of which showed a toe injury. Anthony Wright replaced him in the game. Both Boller and Wright were ineffective on the whole, although Wright did lead the Ravens to their only points of the game.

WR Clarence Moore dropped or didn’t attempt to catch six of the eight balls thrown at him, furthering the perception that he is a lion in practice, but a lamb once the game starts. Conversely, Mark Clayton performed well under the spotlight, catching five passes on the night.

TE Daniel Wilcox received more targets and caught more passes than his counterpart Todd Heap. Heap disappeared for most of the night, and even though he played for most of the game he only had three catches to show for it. Wilcox, on the other hand, had eight catches for 99 yards on the night. The Ravens will try to use these two guys in tandem in the future, as Wilcox is proving too good to leave on the bench.

What you ought to know

QB Peyton Manning, Pass: 21 - 36 - 254 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - -2 - 0

Manning struggled to lead his team to points early, as the Colts only scored three points in the first half on five drives. On the one scoring drive of the first half, Manning threw an interception to S Will Demps in the end zone that was called back because of an off sides penalty on DE Terrell Suggs. The first half was simply a great offense being stymied by a great defense. Manning came alive in the second half after a punt on the first possession, leading the Colts to two consecutive touchdown drives. Starting on their own 37 yard line, Manning led a seven play, 63 yard drive ending with a 23 yard strike to WR Marvin Harrison. After another Baltimore punt, Manning led a four play, 71 yard drive capped with a 26 yard touchdown strike to TE Ben Utecht. Manning evenly distributed his passes among his top three wide receivers, targeting each a minimum of nine times. The crowd was loud but he was able to call plays and audible at the line.

RB Edgerrin James, Rush: 23 - 88 - 0, Rec: 3 - 26 - 0 (4 targets)

James struggled to find holes against the stout Ravens D for most of the night. James was used sparingly as a receiver out of the backfield, and used more as a pounder than as a finesse back. James had trouble turning the corner on the outside runs due to the speed of the Ravens’ linebackers. He also struggled running to the inside, mainly due to the Ravens knowing a run was coming as the Colts tried to drain the clock for most of the fourth quarter. His yardage came in spurts, and was not consistent. James was also the target of a pass in the third quarter that was negated because of a defensive penalty against the Ravens.

RB James Mungro

Mungro saw action as a lead blocker on a few short yardage plays, but did not touch the ball.

WR Brandon Stokley, Rec: 7 - 83 - 0 (10 targets)

Coming off a preseason injury and questionable for most of the week, Stokley made his presence felt and performed much like his career year last year. Playing out of the slot as is the norm, Stokley was matched up predominantly against CB Deion Sanders, although Ed Reed matched up against him at times. He had a long reception of 28 yards, but was targeted on a number of quick hitch passes in short yardage situations.

WR Marvin Harrison, Rec: 6 - 69 - 1 (11 targets)

Harrison had a good start to the season, and was the recipient of Manning’s first touchdown pass, a 28 yarder in the third quarter. CB Chris McAlister was isolated on Harrison for most of the night, but that didn’t stop Manning from targeting Harrison early and often. Manning just barely overthrew Harrison in what would have been a sure long touchdown against blown coverage.

WR Reggie Wayne, Rec: 4 - 50 - 0 (9 targets)

Wayne, matched up against CB Samari Rolle, had a down night by his standards, failing to score and amassing only 50 yards. He dropped a couple of passes, one in particular could have been a long gainer had he showed better concentration on the ball. He also was the target of a Peyton Manning interception that was called back, a play where he failed to look for the ball as it was approaching.

TE Ben Utecht, Rec: 1 - 26 - 1 (4 targets)

Starting in place of Dallas Clark, Utecht was thrown into the fire with his first NFL action coming in a starting capacity. The second year player caught the first pass of his NFL career and scored his first touchdown on a 26 yard pass from Manning with 5:14 remaining in the third quarter. However, that was the only pass he caught all night despite being targeted four times. Manning was visibly upset with Utecht on one occasion, going over to him on the sideline after a miscommunication led to an incomplete pass.

PK Mike Vanderjagt 1 - 1 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 6 points

Vanderjagt was perfect on the night, converting all three extra point attempts and also converting a 20 yard field goal in the second quarter, the first points scored in the game.

IND Rush Defense

The Colts’ rush defense was very impressive considering the dual-headed attack the Ravens boasted with Jamal Lewis and Chester Taylor. They held the Ravens to 78 yards rushing on the night. DL Larry Tripplett had a great night with seven tackles, as did MLB Greg Brackett with eight tackles and two assists.

IND Pass Defense

The Colts harassed Kyle Boller and Anthony Wright all day. They recorded three sacks, three interceptions, and a fumble recovery. MLB Greg Brackett had two interceptions himself. DE Dwight Freeney made Ravens OT Jonathan Ogden look silly on several occasions, as Ogden had no answer to Freeney’s speed. The Colts allowed the vast majority of their passing yardage in the fourth quarter garbage time, when backups were playing.

QB Anthony Wright, Pass: 19 - 31 - 214 - 1 TD / 2 INT

Wright entered the game after Boller’s injury, firing away. He threw for 214 yards in just over a quarter. When Wright entered the game the Ravens were trailing by 17 already, so there wasn’t much balance to the attack. Wright’s favorite receiver was Derrick Mason, who he targeted seven times. Wright turned the ball over three times in his quarter and a half of play, getting intercepted twice and fumbling once as he was getting sacked. He showed no fear throwing down the field, however, and led the Ravens to their only points of the game on a touchdown to Daniel Wilcox with 1:00 remaining in the game.

QB Kyle Boller, Pass: 15 - 23 - 141 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0

Boller came into the game on the hot seat because of his shaky preseason performances. His performance was an improvement, but it will likely do little to dissuade his detractors. His completion rate was 65%, but this didn’t lead to any points. Boller was intercepted on the opening drive of the game on a very poor pass with no clear target. On his second drive, Boller led the team 40 yards down the field only to see K Matt Stover miss a 38 yard attempt. Later, on the first drive of the second half, Stover missed another field goal. So, it wasn’t all Boller’s fault. Unfortunately for Boller, he was injured on a first down play towards the end of the third quarter. DL Larry Tripplett broke through and sacked Boller, who fell while his leg was pinned under Tripplett. The diagnosis was a severely sprained right big toe.

RB Jamal Lewis, Rush: 16 - 48 - 0, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets)

Jamal Lewis struggled in his first action since injuring his ankle in 2004 and his jail time in the off season, averaging a meager three yards per carry. He was the target of only one pass, and was replaced in clear passing situations by Chester Taylor. With around ten minutes left in the game, Lewis was replaced permanently by Taylor, as the game was out of reach at that point. Lewis broke a 25 yard run to start off the second drive of the game, and that was his long run for the night. If you remove that 25 yard run, his remaining stats look even bleaker, at 15 carries for 23 yards, or 1.5 yards per carry.

RB Chester Taylor, Rush: 4 - 27 - 0, Rec: 2 - 22 - 0 (4 targets)

Taylor saw increased action as a result of Jamal Lewis’ coming off an injury, and Taylor’s outstanding preseason play. He served as the main pass catching back for the Ravens, but that didn’t prove to be fruitful. He looked considerably more explosive than Lewis, but that could be due to his runs taking place on clear passing downs.

RB Ovie Mughelli (1 targets)

The seldom-used fullback was the target of a pass, but it was not completed.

WR Derrick Mason, Rec: 8 - 99 - 0 (12 targets)

Mason, like most Ravens receivers, dramatically improved his statistics after Kyle Boller left the game And Anthony Wright entered. He was targeted seven times by Wright in a little over a quarter. The relevance of these statistics is debatable, as the Colts were comfortably ahead at this juncture and were playing some backups.

WR Mark Clayton, Rec: 5 - 44 - 0 (8 targets)

Clayton didn’t see action until the end of the second quarter, but received substantial action in the second half as the game went out of reach. He was a favored target of QB Anthony Wright, who replaced Kyle Boller after his injury. Clayton showed the shiftiness and quickness that was his trademark at the University of Oklahoma. He worked a series of short passes into gains of around ten yards consistently.

WR Clarence Moore, Rec: 2 - 36 - 0 (8 targets)

Moore started opposite Derrick Mason and struggled. Targeted eight times over the course of the evening, he only managed to haul in two of those for catches, failing to catch six. He had a long catch of 24 yards, but was generally unimpressive and dropped some easy catches. He also was called for a false start penalty.

WR Randy Hymes, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets)

Hymes was the target of an Anthony Wright pass late when the game was out of reach.

TE Daniel Wilcox, Rec: 8 - 78 - 1 (10 targets)

Wilcox was the second leading receiver for the Ravens and played most of the night. He was targeted often by both Kyle Boller and Anthony Wright, and saw more targets than fellow TE Todd Heap. He was the recipient of the Ravens’ only score of the game, a 17 yard pass from Anthony Wright for a touchdown with one minute remaining in the game.

TE Todd Heap, Rec: 4 - 38 - 0 (7 targets)

Heap started the game and played a good portion, but failed to provide much help to the Ravens’ struggling offense. He was generally passed over in favor of fellow TE Daniel Wilcox, who had a much easier time getting open. The Ravens used a number of two TE sets, incorporating both Heap and Wilcox into their game plan.

TE Darnell Dinkins, Rec: 3 - 30 - 0 (3 targets)

Dinkins entered the game once it was out of reach and was the target of several Anthony Wright passes.

PK Matt Stover 0 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 1 points

Stover was very disappointing, missing all three field goals he attempted (38, 47, 45). After his third miss, he was booed by the home fans, who also sarcastically cheered him after he made his only extra point attempt late in the game. He also failed to convert on an onside kick with 1:00 remaining in the game.

BAL Rush Defense

The Ravens’ rush defense was solid, as it usually is. Colts RB Edgerrin James found holes hard to find, and lost yards on a few occasions. MLB Ray Lewis was his usual productive self, recording eight tackles and two assists on the evening.

BAL Pass Defense

Initially at least, the Ravens’ pass defense stifled Peyton Manning and the Colts. However, the lack of an offense really hurt them here, and they tired in the second half and allowed the game to get away. CB Samari Rolle did his job well against WR Reggie Wayne, limiting him to only 50 yards on the night. CB Chris McAlister had more trouble with Marvin Harrison, but did a decent job.