Oct 7, 2007 - 10:12 PM
1 shoutINDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Even without their primary horses, the Indianapolis Colts raced to victory.
Kenton Keith, playing in place of injured Joseph Addai, scored two touchdowns as the Colts defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 33-14, on Sunday.
Keith rushed 28 times for 121 yards and scored on runs of 1 and 7 yards to keep Indianapolis (5-0) undefeated.
"That was exciting for me," Keith said. "I didn't think it was going to turn out like it did today. I figured I would play good, because I wasn't nervous, but I didn't expect 121 yards and two touchdowns.
"Our line has always been great. I think that the average back could come here and get 60-70 yards( a game) behind these guys. Everything else is a plus. Those guys are the best in the league."
In addition to Addai (shoulder), the Colts were playing without wide receiver Marvin Harrison (knee). He was replaced in the lineup by rookie Anthony Gonzalez, who finished with seven catches for 71 yards.
"Coach Dungy kind of collectively challenged the guys who were filling in for the starters," Gonzalez said. "(He wanted) to make sure there was no letdown. I obviously don't think we did what the starters would have, but we played pretty well."
The Colts' passing game did not suffer without Harrison, as tight end Dallas Clark and wide receiver Reggie Wayne found the end zone in his place.
Clark caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Manning to cap a seven-play, 42-yard drive to give the Colts a 7-0 lead just under three minutes into the game. It was Clark's fifth touchdown reception this season.
Clark was leveled later in the game by Buccaneers rookie safety Tanard Jackson, staying down on the field for several tense moments. He did return to the game after a few plays. "It hurt. It was a good hit," Clark said. "but I've been hit hard before. Growing up with two brothers, I (took) it all the time. I guess it's all part of it."
"I was glad he got up," Manning said. "Dallas is a super tough player. That run, the screen-pass that he caught for a touchdown, is as good a play as you'll see all year ... breaking all those tackles, it was a great effort to get into the end zone."
As for Wayne, his nine-yard score gave the Colts a 30-7 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
Manning completed 29-of-37 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns.
Tampa Bay's Jeff Garcia found tight end Alex Smith for a pair of 3-yard scores. His first touchdown reception cut the Colts lead to 13-7 in the second quarter, while his second score came in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.
"On our first down runs, we had some negative yardage, and we didn't have the ball a lot," Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden said. "When we made it a 13-7 game, I think the next time we saw the ball, it was a 23-7 game.
"We only had three plays in the whole third quarter, so you do the math. You're not going to get much going without the ball."
Adding injury to insult, Buccaneers running back Michael Pittman suffered a right ankle injury in the second quarter. Pittman, who had five carries for minus-1 yard, left the field on a cart.
As a team, the Buccaneers finished with 17 rushing yards on the day.
Last week, Tampa Bay (3-2) lost starting running back Carnell "Cadillac" Williams for the season due to a knee injury.
"We've been a two-back operation, sometimes a two-halfback operation," Gruden said. "With 'Cadillac' and Pittman down, we're going to have to make some adjustments. We're looking forward to doing that here on the plane."
From the Bleachers
-
TAMPA BAY: 14
INDIANAPOLIS: 33
Final
Oct 7 6:50 PM -
NFL
FG IND
ADAM VINATIERI 35 YD
TAMPA BAY 14
INDIANAPOLIS 33 2:53 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Oct 7 6:41 PM -
NFL
TD TAM
ALEX SMITH 3 YD PASS FROM JEFF GARCIA
(MATT BRYANT KICK)
TAMPA BAY 14
INDIANAPOLIS 30 9:21 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Oct 7 6:24 PM -
NFL
TD IND
REGGIE WAYNE 9 YD PASS FROM PEYTON MANNING
(ADAM VINATIERI KICK)
TAMPA BAY 7
INDIANAPOLIS 30 14:57 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Oct 7 6:11 PM -
TAMPA BAY: 7
INDIANAPOLIS: 23
End of 3rd
Oct 7 6:07 PM -
NFL
TD IND
KENTON KEITH 7 YD RUN
(ADAM VINATIERI KICK)
TAMPA BAY 7
INDIANAPOLIS 23 7:23 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Oct 7 5:52 PM -
CORRECTION
NFL FG IND
ADAM VINATIERI 27 YD
TAMPA BAY 7
INDIANAPOLIS 16 0:00 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Oct 7 5:28 PM -
TAMPA BAY: 7
INDIANAPOLIS: 13
Halftime
Oct 7 5:27 PM -
NFL
TD TAM
ALEX SMITH 3 YD PASS FROM JEFF GARCIA
(MATT BRYANT KICK)
TAMPA BAY 7
INDIANAPOLIS 13 6:43 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Oct 7 5:01 PM -
NFL
TD IND
FREDDIE KEIAHO 1 YD RUN
(PAT BLOCKED)
TAMPA BAY 0
INDIANAPOLIS 13 14:53 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Oct 7 4:40 PM -
TAMPA BAY: 0
INDIANAPOLIS: 7
End of 1st
Oct 7 4:33 PM -
-
NFL
TD IND
DALLAS CLARK 10 YD PASS FROM PEYTON MANNING
(ADAM VINATIERI KICK)
TAMPA BAY 0
INDIANAPOLIS 7 10:19 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Oct 7 4:15 PM
