GREEN BAY, Wis. — An undermanned defense returned two Peyton Manning passes for touchdowns and the Green Bay Packers rediscovered their swagger in a 34-14 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
Aaron Rodgers gutted out his third straight game with a sprained right shoulder, going 21-for-28 for 186 yards and a touchdown despite 30-mph wind gusts at Lambeau Field.
Ryan Grant had his first 100-yard game of the season, carrying 31 times for 105 yards and a touchdown, and the Packers (4-3) have won two straight after snapping a three-game losing streak at Seattle last Sunday.
“This one was very sweet for us,” Rodgers said.
Green Bay has a bye next week, then plays at Tennessee Nov. 2.
And the Packers go into the break with plenty of momentum, thanks in large part to a defense that held Manning to 21-of-42 for 229 yards and two interceptions.
Both interceptions were returned for touchdowns, as safety Nick Collins ran one back 62 yards in the third quarter, and Aaron Rouse returned one 99 yards to put the game out of Manning’s reach in the fourth quarter.
It’s the worst start to a season for Indianapolis (3-3) since 2001 — the last time the Colts didn’t make the playoffs. It’s also their first loss in the month of October since a 2004 game at Kansas City.
Colts coach Tony Dungy said he couldn’t remember a sloppier performance during his time with the team.
“It’s a very, very disappointing game, obviously,” Dungy said. “It’s the way we’ve been all year. We’ve been up and down, not consistent, and we showed more of that today. They played smarter and sharper than we did.”
It was a particularly disheartening performance by the Colts’ defense, which seemed to be on its way to proving it could win without injured safety Bob Sanders in Indianapolis’ victory over Baltimore last week.
Sanders sat out again with a knee injury, as did cornerback Kelvin Hayden — and it showed. The Colts committed 12 penalties, many of them on defense.
The Colts’ defense spent so much time on the field that Manning didn’t have many chances to answer the Packers’ sustained scoring drives. And when he did have the ball, he didn’t look particularly sharp against a Packers defense playing without starters Al Harris and Atari Bibgytwo.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy said his defensive backs did a better job of being physical with Indianapolis’ receivers than they did during their losing streak.
“That’s the way we play,” McCarthy said. “That’s who we are.”
