Thanks to the Raiders win over the Chiefs, the Colts can still move up and grab the third seed in the AFC with a win over the Titans.
They are 30 minutes away from making that scenario come true. Peyton Manning capped an effective first half of work with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne and the Colts lead 13-6 at halftime in Indianapolis. Manning was 15-of-18 for the half, but all three of his incompletions came in Titans territory on drives that ended with Adam Vinatieri field goals.
Thanks to a long Marc Mariani kickoff return and some good production from Kerry Collins, that’s been enough for the Titans to keep things close. If the Colts hope to pull away, it would behoove them to find a way to turn up the heat on Collins in the second half. The pass rush hasn’t been able to throw him off his rhythm at all.
The Colts nearly took an even bigger lead on a half-ending 61-yard field goal attempt by Rob Bironas. The kick was short and Antoine Bethea caught it and almost took it the distance before getting run down by Titans tight end Craig Stevens. Had Bethea scored, it would not have counted because there was a flag for an illegal blindside block by Colts linebacker Gary Brackett and time ran out during the play.