Offense clicks at right time for 8-2 Colts

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts’ high-flying offense stayed low to the ground Sunday, but came alive when it counted to defeat the visiting Kansas City Chiefs. \nTheir 13-10 victory over the Chiefs (4-6) came on a 24-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri with three seconds left and snapped a two-game losing streak. \nVinatieri had already missed field goals of 38 and 49 yards, and was mercilessly booed by the blue-clad crowd of 57,294 before he made his first field goal from 27 yards in the first half. The former New England Patriot, widely considered one of the best clutch kickers of all time, had missed four field goals in a row prior to hitting his third of four attempts Sunday. \n“Every time you step out there and something bad happens, you’ve got to be able to shrug it off and go back out there and forget about it,” Vinatieri said.\nFans were left to wonder for a time if Vinatieri would even get a chance to kick the game winner. \nOn the Colts’ final possession, facing fourth and short in the Kansas City red zone, Colts coach Tony Dungy elected to sneak quarterback Peyton Manning over center for the conversion. \nOnly after that first down, which forced the Chiefs to use their final time out and allowed the Colts to run the clock down inside of two minutes, did Vinatieri come on for what turned out to be a chip-shot winner. He missed a 29-yard field goal in a nearly identical situation on Nov. 11 in San Diego. \n“It was coach (Dungy’s) call,” Manning said, “but that’s what we were gonna do last week.” \nManning and the offense struggled mightily at times against the 14th-ranked Kansas City defense. Manning himself went 16-of-32 for 163 yards and an interception. \nThe Colts as a team were held to only 216 yards, well below their season average of 270 yards per game. Reggie Wayne had four catches for 75 yards, and running back Joseph Addai added 34 yards on four catches to supplement 72 yards rushing on 21 carries. Addai also scored the Colts’ lone touchdown. \n“Everybody in the league is tough, so every week, you don’t know how it’s going to be,” Addai said. “I felt like we kept stopping ourselves, but that’s football. There’s a lot of great players on the other side of the football too.”\nBoth teams could have blamed missed field goals for the loss. Chiefs kicker Dave Rayner missed from 43 and 45 yards, though he hit from 47. \nKansas City’s only touchdown came on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Brodie Croyle to Dwayne Bowe. \nThe Colts pass rush struggled to get to Croyle without Pro Bowl defensive end Dwight Freeney – who sat out with an injured foot – sacking Croyle just twice. The former Alabama signal caller, making his first professional start, finished 19-of-27 for 169 with the one touchdown. He also fumbled away the ball in the first half, leading to the Colts’ first field goal. \nBut in the end, it was the Colts offense that won the day, as Manning marshaled a 14-play, 64-yard drive to take Indianapolis from its own 33-yard line to the Kansas City 6-yard line to set Vinatieri up for the game-winning kick. \nManning commended the Colts defense, which limited the Chiefs to just 234 total yards and kept Priest Holmes in check all game, for their role in Sunday’s win. He just said the offense needs to hold up their end. \n“Our defense did a great job holding their offense down do we didn’t have to score a lot of points,” Manning said. “We need to start playing a little better offensively and being more efficient.”