SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 28, 2014
Colts 27, Titans 10: Andrew Luck threw for 160 yards and two touchdowns, breaking Peyton Manning's team record for passing yards in a season as visiting Indianapolis successfully tuned up for next week's playoffs.
Luck, who played only the first half, also became the eighth player in NFL history to throw 40 touchdown passes in a season as the AFC South champion Colts (11-5) turn their attention toward a meeting with Cincinnati in next Sunday's wild-card game. Coby Fleener caught two TD passes and Jack Doyle grabbed one.
Charlie Whitehurst was 12-of-28 for 72 yards and a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Wright for Tennessee (2-14), which will settle for the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NFL draft after Tampa Bay blew a 13-point lead and lost to New Orleans 23-20 on Sunday. Shonn Greene rushed for a season-high 94 yards.
Indianapolis took a 7-0 lead on its second possession as Luck capped a six-play, 44-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Fleener, who slipped through the line of scrimmage after appearing to be part of the play-action blocking scheme. Luck eclipsed Manning with an 80-yard pass to Wayne - his longest career reception - and connected with Doyle for a 1-yard TD one play later to make it 14-0 midway through the second quarter.
The Colts were poised to extend their lead to 20-7 in the third quarter but Adam Vinatieri, celebrating his 42nd birthday, missed a 46-yard field goal to snap a streak of 35 made in a row. The teams traded field goals before Matt Hasselbeck (13-of-19 for 155 yards) threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Fleener with 3:16 left.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Luck finished with 4,761 yards and 40 touchdowns while Manning recorded 4,700 yards in his last season with the Colts in 2010. ... Manning (twice), Dan Marino (twice), Drew Brees (twice), Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Kurt Warner and Matthew Stafford have all thrown 40 or more TD passes in a season. ... Wayne left after his 80-yard catch with a groin injury and did not return. ... The Titans last finished 2-14 in 1994, when they were the Houston Oilers.