INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts avoided their first 0-16 season thanks to a quarterback who was trying to prevent his second.
Dan Orlovsky, who closed out the NFL’s only 0-16 season with Detroit in 2008, threw one touchdown pass and the key block to spring an 80-yard touchdown run Sunday and lead the previously winless Colts to a 27-13 victory over playoff hopeful Tennessee.
It was the Colts’ first win in 14 games without Peyton Manning, and all it took was 14 tries and three quarterbacks.
Colts players and coaches celebrated by throwing their arms in the air, and Orlovsky got to close it out by taking the traditional kneel downs for the first time in his NFL career.
“I’m happy for a lot of people on this team, for a lot of people in this organization,” Orlovsky said. “It’s a lot better than the feeling we’ve had lately.”
Indianapolis (1-13) had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity, 50 weeks, since their previous win, also at home against the Titans.
For Orlovsky, the drought was even longer. The seven-year veteran was 0-9 in his previous NFL starts. He didn’t have to do too much Sunday, going 11-of-17 passing for 82 yards and one touchdown, but he didn’t turn the ball over. And though the numbers looked nothing like Manning’s, they were good enough to get a win.
“I think in my career, I’ve learned not to take them (wins) for granted,” Orlovsky said, drawing polite laughter.
Donald Brown added a career-high 161 yards rushing, including a late 80-yard touchdown run for Indianapolis.
The Colts will need their offense to keep playing like this in the final two games, after team vice chairman Bill Polian announced that Manning would not be back this season, though he has started throwing to his teammates.
For Tennessee, the loss was a devastating blow.
Had the Titans (7-7) closed out the season with three wins, they might have been able to reach the postseason without any help. Now the Titans will probably need to win their last two games and get help from some others to make it.
But Tennessee had only itself to blame for this one.
Matt Hasselbeck was 27-of-40 passing for 223 yards, no TDs and two interceptions before being lifted in favor of rookie Jake Locker. Chris Johnson ran 15 times for 55 yards. The Titans lost a fumble and also muffed a kickoff out of bounds at their 1-yard line.
“I never would have expected us to come out, and they’re playing like the team going to the playoffs and we’re the team that’s 0-13,” said Titans coach Mike Munchak. “We just weren’t playing well at all. The intensity wasn’t there at the start.”
