NFL GAME RECAP

Starting fast, finishing strong propels Colts

The Sports Xchange

November 06, 2016 at 10:39 pm.

Nov 6, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA;  Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck throws a pass against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Photo Credit: William Glasheen/The Post-Crescent via USA TODAY Sports

Nov 6, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck throws a pass against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Photo Credit: William Glasheen/The Post-Crescent via USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Indianapolis Colts beat the Green Bay Packers by winning the first 13 seconds of the game, the final six minutes of the first half and the final 3:30 of the game.

That was enough to carry the up-and-down Colts to a 31-26 victory at Lambeau Field.

Jordan Todman returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. That not only gave the Colts a 7-0 lead but it took the life out of the Packers and the 78,000-plus in attendance.

“We talked about the first five (minutes) and the last five and how important it was to start this game, come out and be efficient and execute and play with a ton of energy,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. No better way to start a game than a kickoff return for a touchdown.”

And no worse a way to start a game for the Packers, who had a chance to move into a first-place tie atop the NFC North before embarking on a three-game road trip to Tennessee, Washington and Philadelphia. Instead, Green Bay is 4-4 and losers of three of its last four games.

“It’s not what you want,” wide receiver Jordy Nelson said of the opening kickoff. “You go out and it just zaps the emotion right out of the game and the energy level. It’s not what the crowd wants to see when they sit down and 10 seconds into it we’re down 7-0. But that’s an opportunity for us as an offense to control the game and move the ball and get points on the board and match it and put our defense back in a good situation.

“It’s not an excuse. You don’t want that but it’s an opportunity for us to step up and make plays as an offense and put ourselves in a situation to win this game.”

The next critical sequence came late in the first half. The Colts led 17-10 when they got the ball at their own 4-yard line with 5:44 left in the second quarter. The Packers forced a third-and-9 from the 5 but quarterback Andrew Luck hit receiver Phillip Dorsett for a gain of 13. That’s all the Colts needed, who not only scored but milked all but 11 seconds off the clock. Luck converted a third-and-1 with a seven-yard keeper before hitting Donte Moncrief for a touchdown and a 14-point lead.

The Colts were in control at 31-13 before Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers finally got going in the fourth quarter. Rodgers hit receiver Davante Adams for a gain of 40 to set up a Rodgers-to-Adams touchdown to pull Green Bay within 31-19. The Packers forced a three-and-out, then motored down the field for another touchdown, with Rodgers going 7-of-7 for 80 yards and a 3-yard scoring pass to receiver Randall Cobb to cut the margin to 31-26.

With Lambeau Field rocking, the Packers had 3:29 and two timeouts to get a stop. But they couldn’t get it. On third-and-10, Luck was all but sacked by safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. But Luck shook loose and hit tight end Jack Doyle for a gain of 20.

“Very close (to a sack), man,” Clinton-Dix said. “That’s a play I let get away from me. It’s a play I’ve got to make, I want to make and, unfortunately, I let it get away from me.”

The Packers then forced a third-and-2, but Luck hit receiver T.Y. Hilton for a gain of 27. Luck took a knee three times to run off the final 2 minutes to end the game.

“Yes, 100 percent,” Luck said about needing a victory. “I probably wouldn’t have said that before the game, but now, we needed it. We needed it for ourselves, I think. We know we can be a good team. There’s things we have to clean up and we have to stack these together. We needed this in a bad way.”

The Colts head into their bye on a high.

“We’ve got to stay hungry and we’ve got to understand and remember this feeling,” Pagano said. “This is why you do what you do.”