Donald Brown ran for 161 yards, including an 80-yard score to put the game away late in the fourth quarter, as the Indianapolis Colts earned their first win of the season with a 27-13 triumph over the Tennessee Titans.
Reggie Wayne caught three balls for 33 yards and a score for Indianapolis (1-13), which won its first game without Peyton Manning under center since December 14, 1997 when Jim Harbaugh led the Colts to a 41-0 win over the Miami Dolphins.
Dan Orlovsky threw for 82 yards and a score on 11-of-17 passing, and middle linebacker Pat Angerer had an interception and a forced fumble.
"Obviously the guys were pretty excited about a really good performance. The defense did a nice job of running around and hitting. They made them work for everything that they got," Colts head coach Jim Caldwell said. "They hung in there long enough where the offense could at least get something going at some point. And finally (the offense) got a few things going."
Chris Johnson ran for 55 yards and caught eight passes for 54 yards for the Titans (7-7), who have dropped two games in a row.
Matt Hasselbeck tried to gut it out with a bum ankle and threw for 223 yards with two interceptions. Jake Locker came on in the fourth quarter and threw for 108 yards and a touchdown on 11-of-16 passing.
When we got to the situation where we felt that they were starting to drop off a lot and we were going to have to buy more time and take advantage of the fact that Jake
It was an ugly first half as each team recorded just four first downs, and 106 yards of total offense. Tennessee led 6-3 at the half.
"We didn't play well in the first half at all on offense. And we still had the lead, thank god the defense was playing so well early in the game in the first half. And when you do this on the road against a division team or an NFL team, this is what happens," Titans head coach Mike Munchak said.
The Titans went three-and-out on their opening second half possession, and the Colts got prime field possession at the Titans' 43-yard line after a Brett Kern punt and a Tommie Campbell unsportsmanlike penalty.
The Colts took advantage of the field position and took a 10-6 lead when Orlovsky found Wayne in the back-left corner of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown.
Indianapolis took a 17-6 lead midway through the third when Jacob Lacey picked off Hasselbeck on Tennessee's ensuing drive and returned it 32 yards for the score. It was the first interception of the season by a Colts cornerback.
After another Titans punt, the Colts regained possession at their own 20-yard line. Brown broke off a 39-yard run to start the drive, leading to an Adam Vinatieri 40-yard field goal to make it a 20-6 game early in the fourth quarter.
Jared Cook caught a 27-yard pass over the middle on Tennessee's ensuing series, but Angerer stripped him and Chris Rucker pounced on the loose ball at Indianapolis' 34-yard line. But the Titans defense forced a three-and- out and Tennessee got the ball back at its own 25-yard line.
The Titans, however, turned the ball over again as Angerer picked off Hasselbeck's pass in the end zone.
Locker took over for the Titans on their ensuing series. Johnson scampered 35 yards and Nate Washington hauled in a seven-yard score on the next play to make it 20-13 with 3:43 left.
But Brown broke free down the left sideline for an 80-yard score on the first play of the Colts' ensuing series to seal the win.
Vinatieri drilled a 47-yard field goal as time expired in the first quarter to give the Colts a 3-0 advantage, their first lead in nine games. Vinatieri's kick also snapped an eight-game, first-quarter scoreless drought.
After a Pat McAfee punt, the Titans took over at their own 47. Johnson put Tennessee in field goal range on a broken play. Under duress, Hasselbeck shoveled a pass to Johnson, and he scampered 19 yards down the right sideline. Rob Bironas nailed a 53-yard field goal to tie the score with 5:32 left in the second quarter.
Hasselbeck lofted a pretty pass to Lavelle Hawkins for a 22-yard gain down the left sideline to the six. But the drive stalled and Bironas split the uprights from 21 yards out to give the Titans a 6-3 lead with 21 seconds left in the first half.
Game Notes
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