A rational mind would have expected a slew of points Sunday when the Browns and Colts met in Indianapolis. That was not the case as the Colts (3-3, 0-1 AFC South) outlasted the Browns (1-6, 1-2 AFC North) 17-13 in a surprising defensive struggle.
Considering the way Indianapolis has defended the run this season, all signs pointed to a huge game from Cleveland RB Trent Richardson. The Colts have struggled against backs of his bruising ilk -- Maurice Jones-Drew and Shonn Greene, specifically -- but the banged up rookie didn't play in the second half and finished the game with just eight yards on eight carries. Richardson entered the game questionable with bruised ribs.
Nevertheless, the Indianapolis defense did its job against the run and the Colts offense did just enough to win. Quarterback Andrew Luck ran -- yes, ran -- for two scores, and rookie Vick Ballard finished with 84 yards on 20 carries.
So it was perhaps a step in the right direction for the Colts defense, but nothing to get carried away with considering Richardson's status.
When the game turned: Essentially, there were no real turning points. However, a sure touchdown pass was dropped by Browns WR Josh Gordon midway through the fourth quarter. If nothing else, the score would have put pressure on the Colts offense to produce.
Highlight moment: Browns QB Brandon Weeden's first touchdown pass came on a seam route thrown to an open WR Greg Little, who bobbled the pass but somehow got control of the ball before falling out of bounds. Had Little caught the ball initially, it would have been just a pedestrian grab. So, thanks to Little for having just OK hands.
Top-shelf performances
- Weeden -- 25 of 41, 264 yards, 2 TD passes, no interceptions
- Ballard -- 20 carries, 84 yards
- Colts interim coach Bruce Arians: "We’re obviously excited about the win. To get to 3-3, be in the hunt now in the AFC with a bunch of other teams and start to get healthy hopefully next week and see if we can take this on the road. A lot of mistakes today that can be corrected, myself included, and we’ll go from there. But pretty happy locker room to get to 3-3. That was our goal no, matter what.”
- Rookie running back Vick Ballard: “It puts us right where we want to be. We said we wanted to get to 3-3, and that’s what we came out there and did.”
- Offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo : “It was extremely satisfying. The crowd was really into it today, too, which is awesome for us. It’s good to be right back at 3-3 and right back with the majority of the league right now.”
- Running back Delone Carter : “It’s great to just be in the hunt, to be in the conference .500 and go in there and get ready for the next challenge.”
- Outside linebacker Dwight Freeney : “It’s everything. You have to be in the hunt. You’ve got to be able to say, every Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or whenever you guys meet, we are one game away from first place or two games away from first place. That’s big for us.”
- Wide receiver Reggie Wayne : “It’s huge. It’s a big, old, cluster of teams that seem like they are around the same 3-3, 4-3, whatever. That just puts us right in the hunt, so now we just have to keep on pushing forward and don’t look back.”
Injury update: Browns -- Richardson started the game, but the rookie with bruised ribs didn't play a snap in the second half.
