Indianapolis – Those touchdown receptions haven’t yet become routine for Dallas Clark, which explains why he was behaving “like a 3-year-old” in front of Section 103 on Sunday.
Clark had just scored the second of what would turn out to be five Indianapolis Colts touchdowns in their 38-20 victory over Denver at the RCA Dome. It came on a 9-yard pass from Peyton Manning.
Clark’s enthusiastic spike sent the ball into the stands, however, where a grateful man in a blue Colts jersey caught it off the ricochet.
Clark wanted it back. He stood in front of the fans, left arm extended, motioning for it.
The fifth-year tight end has 18 career touchdowns – four this season, which matches his total of the past two seasons and is only one short of his single-season high. That’s not so many that he’s ready to let someone else take his ball home.
“Hopefully, I get to the point like Marv (Harrison) and those guys where it’s old hat,” he said. “I’m enjoying it right now. But hopefully I get to the point where if it goes in the stands, I’m not going to sit there like a 3-year-old and ask for it back.
“I really didn’t know. Do I have the right to ask for it back? What if we start arguing? Are we going to sit there the whole game?”
Clark got the ball back without having to make a scene, and rewarded the fan with another ball after the game.
The Colts’ offense blistered Denver despite the first-quarter loss of Marvin Harrison and the fourth-quarter loss of running back Joseph Addai, who gained 136 yards on 19 carries. True to their shrug-and-replace attitude of the past few seasons, the Colts simply looked in other directions.
Foremost among them, on this occasion, was Clark, who caught six passes for 76 yards and scored two touchdowns. His most crucial reception might have been the 27-yarder he caught over Broncos all-pro cornerback Champ Bailey on the first possession of the fourth quarter.
Manning completed a third-and-3 pass to Clark that set up Reggie Wayne’s 5-yard scoring reception, giving the Colts a 35-20 lead.
The Colts running game rolled up a season-high 226 yards. Denver’s respect for the Colts’ pass attack created opportunities on the ground, and they took advantage – particularly Addai, who averaged 7.2 yards per carry and scored their first TD on a 14-yard run on the second play of the second quarter.
“The real challenge this week was, the past two weeks we’ve seen a lot of similar looks and haven’t had a run over 12 yards,” Manning said. “With the safeties deep like that, that really shouldn’t be the case.”
It wasn’t on Sunday. No matter who played.
