2008 Wild Card - Indianapolis at San Diego

nbc sports home of super bowl 43 welcomes you to the following presentation of the national football league last sunday night ladainian tomlinson scored three touchdowns looked like the old lt but strained his groin by the time we got to this morning there were multiple reports that he'd suffered a torn tendon in the groin area but there he is riding the bike he's in uniform will play tonight andrea kramer has been all over the story andrea the very latest well al north turner told me he was surprised when he first heard this report this morning said that they would not put tomlinson at risk by having him play with a detached tendon now tomlinson would not confirm or deny for me the severity of the injury he said it is very painful and then he took a shot for the pain he said he did not push himself in pregame warm-ups but was saving himself for the game but admitted he did not know how effective he would be or how long he would last but would be honest and come out when he needed to as for tight end antonio gates he's playing with a right high ankle sprain but told me of greater concern to him is the achilles on the same foot he said it's heavily taped but out he's just worried that he could pop on him we're going to get an early answer i think to each question because the chargers have won the toss electa received that's darren sproles who had an 89-yard kickoff return and a 45-yard punt return both for touchdowns in the game here on november 11th of 07. adam vinatieri the former patriot peyton manning awaits his turn 70 000 in full throat in san diego and we are underway scrolls one of the best return men in the league from the four up past the 20 taken down at the 22-yard line by jordan sen here are the san diego starters phillip rivers nc state ladanian tomlinson tcu chris chambers wisconsin badgers vincent jackson northern colorado antonio gates detroit central high school brandon montemalaina arizona marcus mcneil alba chris dielman indiana nicholas hardwick purdue mike gough university of iowa jeremy clary kent state university tomlinson is the tailback gates is in the game on the left side at tight end and they start with lt and tomlinson turns the corner and picks up a first down so you'll wake up the reports of a torn groin and need surgery next week and you start the game with a 13-yard gain i was talking to him the other day and he said that what he's going to do is try and be a power runner and not make a lot of cuts and you could see on this run he had excellent blocking i mean he caught the colt defense inside so he was able to get outside and he really didn't have to make a cut he said i would like to get through this game just being [Music] [Applause] three backs in the backfield and tomlinson this time over right guard and that's bob sanders number 21 on the subject of injuries bob sanders who can be such a difference maker another number 21 21 on either side of difference maker but sanders this year has played in only six games and missed 10. but when he plays he as you say is a difference maker remember tony dungy used to calling me a racer that those front seven guys could make a mistake lose a gap and he'll come and make up for him second to make phillip first pass of the rivers is complete and that's to antonio gates so right off the bat they go to tomlinson for a run they throw the ball to gates that's a gain of six yards it will set up a third down and two i think that's an interesting play call there and i think north turner is doing something interesting here you know that there's been all this talk that lt can't play tour ten and growing all that stuff and he needs surgery run him right off the bat you know and show showing you know and gates has this gate says that throw in the ball and show them that you still have to defend those two guys against the dime defense scrolls is the back on third and three rivers who led the league in pass rating is going to get sacked at the 39 and that's robert mathis mathis a sac specialist comes in in passing situations in his sixth year out of alabama a n had a big year gets the sack here and forces san diego to punt you know we were talking to north turner the other day about this game he said the the biggest thing are his two tackles blocking those two defensive ends at that time jeremy clary the right tackle didn't get the job done on robert masses mike cipher's booze one into the night air and it's fair caught by kiwan ratliff at the nine yard line big year for cyphers 52-yard punt here here are the colts starters peyton manning university of tennessee joseph fedor louisiana state marvin harrison syracuse reggie wayne the u anthony gonzalez ohio state dallas clark university of iowa tony hugo arkansas charlie johnson oklahoma state jeff saturday north carolina at chapel hill dan fader kyle university of calgary brian dean northern illinois university vader talking in the start tonight instead of the normal starter mike pollock the rookie out of arizona state peyton manning starts from the gun three wide from the 10-yard line flanked in the backfield by joseph adai manning to the right side and that squad and that's marvin harrison who's really come on in the second half of the season along with manning that's a gain of a peyton manning as we we said early because of that the knee problems and just trying to get completely healthy didn't play particularly well the first half of the year but take a look at that december when he was phenomenal right i think the first half of the year for peyton manning was just his training camp in preseason because he didn't take one snap in august second down and two from the 18-yard line to give it to a die and an inside handoff no gain third and two here is the san diego defense [Applause] luis steele northwestern jamar williams oklahoma state eagle oshansky oregon sean phillips purdue stephen cooper maine tim dobbins iowa state johns tucker great foreign university gwen jammer texas clinton heart south suffolk high school eric weddle utah antonio cremarti florida state last year in the regular season game here those chargers intercepted manning six times third and two peyton throws that is caught on a slant by anthony gonzalez gonzalez after the 30-yard line and a first down for the colts and that's something the colts do so well they led the league in third down conversions this year over 50 percent yeah look how they did it they had what we call a bunch three receivers there and you have one goes out one goes in and one hooks in the middle and against zone defense this is darn near impossible to cover especially with peyton manning's throwing it gonzalez led the team in third down receptions this season so you saw a little bit of what indy does real well first and ten from the 31-yard line the fake run and then manning will just throw it away because the pressure was put on on the safety blitz by number 32 eric weddle it'll make a second down and 10 for the colts yeah and that's exactly what what the chargers are trying to do and what ron rivera their defense coordinator is trying to do is is get pressure on him and get him off his spot you see him faking here's a spot right here now you get him to run get off that spot he goes off to it to the right and just throws it away if he's able to get in that pocket and step up he is darn near impossible to defend ted catrell was the defensive coordinator was fired at mid-season and rivera who had been on the bear staff took over for him and our first flag of the game ron winter is the referee tony hugo number 67 was moving the left tackle for indianapolis offense number 67 yard penalty remains second down it's your left tackle tony hugo and one thing that the chargers are doing and you can is is moving around you know showing him something early shown peyton manning something early when he's making these calls and then within 10 seconds they say he never snaps the ball before 10 seconds left in the clock don't get in the defense you're going to run until after there's 10 seconds on the clock now they're in it they clock down to one on second down and 15. and manning will go deep down the right side and too deep and pending for marvin harrison but he does draw a flag penalty marker down at the 44-yard line [Applause] chargers led the lead appearance the defensive passing number 23. penalizes the spot in the foul got a first down something you don't want to leave the league in more passion into fairness penalties against san diego than any other team that one on clinton jammer and it's worth 30 yards you'll see here's quentin jammer right here and you see he gets the hand looks like he has his left hand on marvin harrison right there and the ball was in the air so that's what they called that was pretty good coverage i mean he didn't have to do that because he did have the safety over the top right and sometimes they wouldn't draw a flag which brings up another thing here as a dive picks up too this crew the ron winter crew called more penalties for more penalty yardage than any crew in the league this season the one time they had indianapolis they called 12 penalties against the colts in green bay mostly against the colts in a decade yeah what did tony duns you say last night when we talked to him he said there's going to be a lot of flags tomorrow night we're starting off that way he told his defensive backs keep that in mind second down and eight at the 42-yard line manning the fake manning going deep down the left side and the passes incomplete wayne was looking toward the middle then look back outside he was covered there by antonio cromartie it'll be third down and reggie wayne really had antonio cromartie beating there he just watched him eat you know they think that they can use double moves on him and that's just a little move to the inside and then it looked like reggie wayne was expecting the ball to be in the inside it was thrown over his outside shoulder and by the time he made the adjustment the ball was by him wayne 82 caches led the team dallas clark flanking manning in the backfield along with a die and on third down on eight manning has time slides to his left in the pass incomplete reggie wayne could not hold on steven cooper has a word with him and the colts sent in the punting group don't see that much but stephen cooper having a word with him you see a lot a guy dropping a ball all night i mean that that is a perfect throw i mean there's no there's no reason that that ball's not caught and reggie wayne is one of those sure-handed receivers and and you say well he was going inside he heard footsteps not reggie wayne reggie wayne one of the real tough guy wide receivers hunter smith hunting darren scrolls standing back of the pin it's a low snap and he's able to get it away and scrolls will let it go and it will bound into the end zone it's a touch back [Applause] [Music] and build up and the offense will take over the 20-yard line nine and a half left in the quarter no score this wild card playoff game is being brought to you by southwest airlines low fares no hidden fees by nissan inviting in the shift the way you move through the world by frost route tours light when the mountains turn blue your beer is as cold as the rockies and by sprint at nfl mobile live only on the now network beautiful aerial shots over downtown san diego aerial coverage brought to you tonight by duracell second possession for the san diego chargers and they start with both tomlinson and scrolls in the backfield and on first down rivers drifts back and then throws incomplete it'll be second down and 10. let's take a look at the indy defense raheem brock temple eric foster rutgers university kiante dawson texas tech dwight friedman syracuse clint sessions pittsburgh freddie keajo buena high school taiwan haglin cincinnati kell hagen illinois bob sanders iowa antoine mathea the real hu domecca howell university tim jennings georgia 11th ranked defense in the league this year but they really stepped up in the second half scrolls is now the tailback and they'll give it to him and scrolls at 5-6 was able to move the first guy through but not the rest of that defense and he stopped for no gain it'll be third down and 10 at the 20-yard line i was talking to bob sanders last night and he said that they have a lot of respect for darren sproles and they think the way you have to play him is just like this get penetration get in the backfield don't let him get started because if that guy gets started and gets through that first layer he is very very difficult to get to the ground very very difficult to get a hand though yeah try to sneak in behind the big tight end playing fullback [Music] out of a shotgun third down and ten rivers hanging in there checks down underneath it's caught on the outside by gate so he's caught two but only for seven yards and it will be fourth down and three so it's a three and out the corner key one ratliff making the tackle you know and one of the things that they you know that norv turner was talking about is marcus mcneil has to be able to protect against dwight freiny but again you know phillip rivers on third down has to get the ball down the field that time he threw me antonio gates who came from the backfield he lined up as a bat and ran that pattern out of the back cypher's first punt was 51 yards this one will be in that very same neighborhood fielded by ratliff at the 16-yard line and the coverage is very good as he takes it back to only the 19 a 58-yard booth by cyphers lt staying loose no score coming up on nbc a week from tomorrow night the 66th annual golden globe awards right here on nbc the golden globes from the 19-yard line the indianapolis colts first and ten laying to the left gonzalez is in the slot and we've got federer kyle moving offense number 76 the five yard penalty remains first down first and 15. you know what's happening here this charger defense is trying to give peyton manning different pre-look and you see how they move their defense and they move their defensive line and linebackers it's making the colts defense jump offside fenercon normally a sub but starting for the injured pollock first and 15 now manning throws it's caught outside by dallas clark makes his first catch up to the 18-yard line and john the chargers among other things change defensive coordinators and also how they get the signals in well what they're doing now is last time they used a lot of hand signals and and ron rivera the defensive coordinator for the charges thought that peyton manning had their signal so this time they're trying to go with without signal or if they do they change their signals now he's talking directly to middle linebacker stephen cooper paranoia gate this is gonzales who makes the catch and gets tackled at the 24-yard line antoine cason making the stop there and it will be third down and five i think you're partly right i think that you know you say how much is that is true peyton manning knows a lot of things but knowing all your defenses and signals i think part is peyton manning being pretty smart in the other part of paranoid they also thought he knew the winner of the daily double at del mar third and five from the 24-yard line the chargers don't want to be seven the defense are going to run until the play clock gets down below 10. now to the outside and they run that pick a lot that's reggie wayne or rub or whatever you want to call it a bubble screen and they pick up another first down on a third down conversion to the 33-yard line yeah that's the thing you know they were saying last night he said there's no contest for a quarterback to see how long they can hold the ball and this is just reggie wayne you know a big wide receiver third and short let him come inside and run away from the defender from the 33 now this is a dime the one thing the coats have not done well this year is run they're averaging only 3.4 yards per carry of course you've had a guy who hasn't been totally healthy all year hamstring shoulder problems dominic rhodes has seen a lot of the action and the indianapolis colts had the second worst rushing attack in the league this season but arizona had the worst and they're moving on in the playoffs and the thing is is that put so much more pressure on the offensive line to have to pass protect and i'm peyton manning because it's not only that he has to do it to get first downs and touchdown but also it's taking away play action packs there's clock to the outside and clark with that move to the inside breaking away from antoine applewhite the outside linebacker turns a third and two into a first down and and that's the thing that peyton manning has here he has pretty good protection and then a guy like dallas clark who just knows every situation knows how to get open i mean he has a great feel most of the time for the middle of the field that time he caught that one outside the numbers but he is something very very special for this offense knew exactly what he had to do because had he gotten tackled it would have been third and two and he turns it into a first the ball is at the 45-yard line on first down manning able to step up feels the pressure hits gonzalez and gonzalez will turn this into a big game inside the 30 and he snakes his way all the way to the san diego 20-yard line looked like a video game stopped by cromartie a 36-yard gain yeah this is one of the things the colts thought they could do against his charger defenses is run crossing patterns you know just get in there and just keep going all the way across the field just just run away from the defense and at some point as you go all the way across field at some point you're going to be open and that's when peyton manning is going to hit him chargers were the next to worst pass defense in the league this season only seattle was worse manning throws and that is gonzalez able to haul it in with double coverage clinton jammer is right there the primary defender at the two yard line first and goal a gain of 17. you know peyton manning's the mvp and he has receivers and all that but the part that you forget a lot of times is the protection that he gets i mean look at this look at this pocket that they give him to throw in and and that is something they always give him a very strong middle they'll let the ends come up the field but the center and two guards always have a solid middle so that peyton manning can step up daryl reed the defensive tackle is the fullback to give the ball it will die a guy tries to burrow his way in and he gets inside the one it'll be second down and goal with three and a half minutes ago in the opening quarter this is where if you're going to get in here the colts know this from the last time they played them you better get this guy blocked here if you don't somehow control jamal williams this is going to happen he is going to cause a pile in the middle reed ran him over that time but adai still was stopped shy of the goal line now reed and adai flank manning he gives it to a guy on an inside handoff and he skates into the end zone for the game's first touchdown good blocking there and they did exactly what they had to do you know we talked about jamal williams and you know you have to get him blocked and he's darn near impossible to single block so what do you do you start right here and you start on a double then you get him back and if you put jamal williams in the end zone you will score a touchdown [Applause] an 81-yard drive in five minutes two seconds adam vinitari for the conversion so with the tick under three minutes to go in the first quarter in this asu playoff game in san diego the colts are on top seven to nothing [Music] on february the 1st bruce springsteen and the e street band will take the field for their first super bowl performance ever the bridgestone super bowl 43 hand time show featuring bruce and the street fan february 1st super bowl sunday right here on nbc adam vinatieri to kick off for the western end zone darren scrolls moves up a couple of strides fields at the three yard line a pass to 20 and ripped down by ro reed who plays defense full back and is a maven on special teams at the 25 yard line manning 6-6 on that last drive 7-0 colts and speaking with north turner the other day one of the things he said was key for a san diego victory tonight the performance of the tackles marcus mcneil and jeremy clary taking care of freeny and mathis the colts pass officially outside first down now rivers slings it to the outside and that's gates and again playing with that high ankle sprain hadn't practiced all week has already caught three passes tonight albeit short ones clint session makes the tackle right and the they haven't thrown to a wide receiver yet so you know that that's to come because that's what the chargers are now they're a phillip rivers team they're a pass protection team as we just talked about and using the outside receivers vincent jackson on one side and chris chambers on the other side [Applause] second and four from the 32 fakes to tomlinson is flushed out chased throws and misses the open man he had mama molly who had gotten free at the indianapolis 40-yard line couldn't get to him flagged down ineligible man downfield is the call from ron winter an eligible man downfield offense number 79 a five yard penalty repeat second down that's mike gough and you wonder what the heck he was doing down field because you look he wanted the two guys deep and he has one guy deep in the right side two guys deep in the right side one guy deep in the left side and the protection broke down see he has a deep there and a deep there and then he had another vertical on the other side and that's what they were trying to do they were trying to go first down right action pass get the ball beaten online and scrolls was in and they was in the game as the third wide receiver rivers gets hit as he throws from behind by dwight freeman who tried to get it to sproles and that's incomplete and it's third down and nine for san diego and that's a match-up we were talking about dwight freeny on marcus mcneil and you're going to see him here he starts up the field then he does the spin and once he comes off that spin he just keeps going and he really powers himself into it that's math is coming from the outside making phillip rivers step up so you got a spin on one side where guys coming up to your face and then another guy coming on your outside shoulder making you step up right into that spin third down and nine and the inside handler goes to scrolls and he gets the first down so they run out of the gun something they don't do very often and that's a 13 yard gain for a first down [Applause] yeah and that's what he does i mean he runs these springs and these draws here you're going to see the right guard chris dielman he just pulls around makes a very good block there sprawls little darren sproles only five foot six you can't even see him watch where is he where's oh there he is and boom nine yards first down so they run out of the gun something they did six percent of the time this year lowest of any team in the league from the 40-yard line now tomlinson stopped by ganthe dawson at the 44-yard line it'll be second down and six with a minute and 20 to play in the opening quarter and you see tomlinson there just kind of you know trying not to make a lot of cuts making a run coming out told me the other day that he wants to manage his game so that he's there in the fourth quarter he doesn't want to go in and just play the first quarter and say i can't play anymore he wants to not only play in this game he wants to be effective and three finisher second and six final minutes of the opening stanza from the 44-yard line scrolls and scrolls was hit by session initially and then lunges forward for a couple more before antonio johnson makes the stop tony dungy i tell you why you you know it's easy you hear so many numbers and you just let them go by float fights to the playoffs 10 straight season nobody in the history of the nfl has done that 10 years in a row no and if you ever coached you know how hard it is to win a game and then how hard it is to get to the playoffs and then to do it 10 straight years utterly amazing all seven in indianapolis and his last three in tampa bay rivers throws and it's incomplete the coverage is good intended for chris chambers and melvin bullet who's really had a good year he's played a lot because of the injury to sanders and has come on and has been a very effective defender is there for the coverage very effective both against the pass and the run very good run player also and here you just get that slant and you know where that guy's going and you can't interfere but he makes a a great job of getting that left handed mike ciphers going to let it go and the chargers are going to make sure that peyton manning will go to work with a long field it didn't deter him the last time bc won 81 yards in five minutes and that is the end of the first quarter with the score indianapolis seven san diego nothing in this nfl wild card playoff game continues after these messages [Applause] [Music] archie manning will be happy to know that his daughter-in-law and his wife are there ashley and olivia so far having a good time they watched payton lead the team to the game's only touchdown as we start the second quarter al michael's john madden andrea kramer in san diego as manning gives the ball to a die he picks up a rather dominique rhodes up to the four yard line rose in the game for the first time after a dive played the first quarter gain of one will be second down and nine manning only quarterback in the history of the league to win 10 or more games in each of seven straight seasons completing his 11th year in the league and of course has not missed a start started on opening day as a rookie and has not been out second to nine [Applause] folks have two tight ends in here now to help they're running and it is juggled and then he is caught by gian robinson who's been seeing a little bit more action as the season has progressed that a missouri western state a free agent it'll be third down and six and geon robinson is a tight end that you usually run when he's in there he's more of a blocking tight man than he is a pass this evening tight end because if the colts really want to pass they'll take him out keep dallas clark in there and go three wide deceivers like they are now brown realizes it's early in the game but to stop him here would force him to punt out of the end zone third down and six and manning will look to his left and throw and gonzalez will get tackled shy of the first down antoine cason rookie out of arizona their number one pick and the 2008 draft is able to get him around the ankle and stop him short of the first down it'll be fourth and one and then comes the pumping unit yeah big tackle by cason but pretty good pressure here this is what the chargers want to do is get pressure and make peyton manning throw the ball before he's ready so they got a little pressure right up the middle on them gonzalez gets the ball there and kayson makes a great tackle first down saving tackle it's five catches already for gonzalez tonight hunter smith's second punt of the game coming justin snow to snap it scrolls is back to run at that flag is down before the snap and they took too much time the play clock was at zero the late games offense five-yard penalty remains fourth down it was probably one of those things that someone thought before we put the punt team in there let's make sure we don't want to go for it on fourth down now you know tony dungeon there's no way at this part of the field and he's going to go forward on fourth down anyway but someone probably said hold up you know hold up and the punting team held up too long two fall start penalties and one delay of gain penalty against indianapolis smith out of the end zone scrolls moves to the near sideline collection at the 39 gets a block into coal territory tackled at the 44-yard line and that's what they wanted to do stop them deep give rivers a short field 12 and a half to go on the half 7-0 indianapolis [Music] north turner concluding a second season as the head coach of the san diego chargers a little bit of their season in microcosm sean merman thought he could play this year played one game and then had to have knee surgery he feared that it happened he had hockey infamous call in denver in week two but they were able to overcome that by the end of the year despite a 4-8 record at the beginning of december winning their last four games while denver lost three or four they won last week both denver and san diego wound up eight and eight san diego had the tie break speaking to merriman there he is he's already had surgery three-time pro bowl selection on the sideline tonight watching rivers go to work with tom once in the backfield from the 44-yard line and then the pass is caught and that is gates making the catch and he's been the only charger who's made a catch tonight rivers has completed four out of seven all of them to gates and that was a bootleg you know the the colts are playing run on first down so they what they do is they fake the run and then rivers bootlegs out there and antonio gates is wide open so here's a bootleg you see what that does it keeps the whole colt defense over on one side and gates all by himself over on the other side the cole defense is a quick flow defense so play action pass and bootleg passes work well one second down and two you've got lt picking up three yards to the 33-yard line and that will move the chains only the third first half for san diego a very potent offense tonight and knowing norv turner this is the time that he likes to take a shot i mean he hasn't gone to his wide receivers yet the colts are playing a lot of cover three and cover six having their safety up on first down and i think it would be a great time to throw to the ball to the wide receiver although he's only playing with one from the 31 line the [Music] [Applause] [Music] inside the ten looks back for a straight arm and takes the ball to the three-yard line that's a 30-yard gain setting up a first down and goal antonio gates is kind of half tight in half wide receiver he starts his tight end then he splits out and he ends up as a wide receiver and that's the pass that you want to throw to a big receiver is you want to throw that slam and again once he gets in there you know that's it and then when you know a guy has a bad ankle is when he's out in front and he turns around to look back to see if they're gaining on him you know that ankle is bothering him but he's getting it up and playing a stiff arm from behind first and goal and they give it to tomlinson touchdown wow and then wow is because all week long the whole story here was with tomlinson play would gates play i think it was a big play to play before to antonio gates here he gets a pretty good block right there by jacob hess for his fullback as for an undersized fullback just learning how to make those blocks and each time i watch him on film he's getting better and better at it hating for the extra point and the san diego chargers take advantage of that short field four plays 44 early in the second quarter at qualcomm stadium it's 7-7 [Music] this blockhard playoff came from san diego being brought to you by wendy's it's way better than fast food it's wendy's by warner brothers new motion picture yes man now playing in theaters everywhere by bud light the difference is drink ability and by chevy in american revolution temperature low 50s san diego overcast skies tonight 7-7 is the score with 10 15 to play in the half and nate keating is ready to kick off to chad simpson [Applause] low kick and kating went down as he kicked off and then the kick is brought back to the 34 34-yard line fielded there by daryl reed doing everything but kanye fell down after the kickoff [Music] and indianapolis will take over and that's why the kick was short odd road for tony dungy whose team is used to getting out of the gate like a horse running the opening fraction in 20 flat manning missing all her pre-season and then a 3-4 start but no losses in november and december nine straight wins to conclude the season picked up a wild card birth and of all things peyton manning who was so frustrated and mystified he'd never been hurt never had surgery before training camp winds up with a third mvp award to die as the running back on first down from the 33-yard line colts beginning to strive peyton manning is changing and the chargers keep changing their defense the guy picks little up on a blitz and then reaching out for it is anthony gonzalez having a tremendous game gonzalez has already made six catches tonight the coverage on the play by caisson that's a game of 20 yards and cason is in there he's the nickel back or fifth defensive back and he covers a slot pretty good protection but i mean look at peyton manning i mean this isn't bad coverage i mean he's right there he makes him throw it over his head and he just puts it right on anthony gonzalez sometimes when when he's hot and in rhythm playing the pigment he's done the impossible to defend there's a guy and a guy gets bunched up and goes nowhere stephen cooper you know we had that opening ninth game on nbc the first sunday night game with chicago at indianapolis remember when peyton walked into the stadium that night you could tell he lost a lot of weight there he was and the suit didn't fit john no i know and you just knew that that the way he walked in and the way he walked out here in the field and he looked at those you know two scars on his knee that he was going to play and he did play but he wasn't ready then he got ready and became the mvp of the league second down to nine from the 47 yard line manning sliding to his left buying time hits a guy [Applause] yard shy of the first down well you saw he looked gaunt now he has his weight back and he looks like the peyton manning is playing like the peyton manning of all he had real short hair then all of a sudden we looked at him last night when's the last time he got a haircut well he looks so different you know because you're so used to that you know tight haircut and he said that tom moore the offensive coordinator told him look when you have a streak going don't change anything so peyton manning hasn't had a haircut in nine weeks right and that's not like you know some guys can do that nine weeks is nothing but peyton manning nine weeks is big third down is big this is the equivalent of hockey's stanley cup beard and this is clark taking it on the end around and now we'll pick up on first down so 23rd and 1. a little gadget and that moves the change you know dallas clark can do so many things and we know he can be a tight end he can be a slot he can get in the backfield he can block and here he shows it from the tight end spot he can run a reverse and again we talked about the colt defense being fast flow you know quick flow the charger defense is also fast flow they get them flowing one way and dallas clark comes back against the grain on the reverse first and ten and a gap in the middle of that charger line with williams out for the moment manny lines up in the shotgun five-man rush and the pass is underthrown it'll be second down and 10. going back to peyton's hair on there it was on opening day and you see and that's that's the peyton manning you're used to seeing when a guy starts doing that on a football field you know that his hair is not the way it's supposed to be doesn't know what to do with it now peyton manning with long hair isn't peyton manning but i mean nine straight you know as as i say you don't you don't mess with a winning streak next thing you know he'll get a vitalist commercial out of this second and ten and it's dropped by gonzalez who already caught a half dozen it'll be third down and 10 at the san diego 29-yard line and anthony gonzalez has really developed into a very good slot and peyton manning has developed a lot more confidence in it and running right up to the line making sure san diego couldn't get anybody in to change the defense he got him up and he made him he made him give us something it looked like he didn't even have a play look at the tom moore saying give me something he got up there the first time and he was just up there up under center with no play meanwhile the play clock goes all the way down to one on third down and ten manning dancing around throws and that'll be caught but for only a gain of about three by four he's tackled there by eric weddle and adam vinatieri will come out to attempt about a 43-yard field goal you know and he has plenty of leg for this i was watching him and you know in pre-game and he was he was kicking 55-yard field goals going this way he kicked that 51 yarder at the end of the regular season game between these two teams six weeks ago to win the game snow will snap it hunter smith will hold it 43-yard attempt to try to give the colts the lead again and right down the middle 43-yard field goal for vinateri 6 46 to go on the half 10-7 colts [Music] a dance competition unlike any other it'll be country against country the show is superstars advance and it will be premiering tomorrow night right here on nbc 9 eastern and pacific falcon stadium in san diego long-time home of the chargers down sproles is back to receive the vitatory kick two yards in the end zone scrolls starts up past the 20 and then gets up ended at the 29 and they're saying he was down scrolls got whacked at the 29 yard line by kejuan ratliff 32 yard run back played dead and a first down of the 29 as we start this drive we check in with andrea well guys there's no question that ladainian tomlinson is playing in a lot of pain you can see it all over his face you could see it when he came off the field after scoring that touchdown the injury has also altered his sideline routine typically he sits on the bench between series but between every series tonight he's been on the bike he jogs around trying to stay warm relatively speaking for san diego it's cool down here and pretty damn now as for the colts they're starting cornerback kelvin paper has gone to the locker room with a hip injury they're calling his return questionable and so radliff goes over to that side for them keywon ratliff tim jennings the other corner here is sproles for a gain of one up to the 30 yard line it'll be second down and nine i think calvin hayden's last play was when antonio gates uh beat him on that uh on that slant pattern gates is the only man who's caught a pass tonight for san diego he's caught all five of rivers completions meanwhile manning has gone to six different receivers yeah i think the chargers are really concerned with pass protection they're using a lot more two-sided and speaking of pass protection that breaks down because you've got fraidy coming around the corner and getting a sack of rules [Applause] tried to block them that time that was one of the tight ends i'm talking about right here two tight ends and they just keep him in the block and and he just runs right around monte molina but but mcneil has to get back there and help him right there and he doesn't get there you know because i mean that was really where monte molina was going to block him and then mcneil was going to come out and help and they didn't get to dwight freiny and then the thing that norv turner worries about and philip rivers worries about is not the sack as much as the strip sack fumble he was close cleaning a 10 and a half seconds during the regular season once again river steps up slings it to the outside but spoils can only get the ball back up to the 28-yard line he's tackled there by jennings and on fourth and 11 san diego sends in ciphers for the fourth time you know but that just shows you what great pass rushers do to you they make you get out of your offense they make you you know keep extra blockers in there then you can't get the ball to your wide receivers then you have to throw to your tight end and you say how did that all start well it all started with a defensive end against an offensive tackle cipher's all three punched tonight 50 or more yards and this one is a monster this one will land at the five yard line with some backspin ratliff will take it there and get buried at the seven and north turner talking to us all year long and he's saying can you guys do anything to get this guy to the pro bowl too late but maybe next year 67 yards [Music] four weeks from tomorrow super bowl sunday the today show will be live from tampa starting at 9 00 a.m eastern pregame coverage noon eastern and then of course super bowl 43 from raymond james stadium in tampa would kick off at 6 28 eastern time can't wait for that one 29 days will one of these two teams get there this is about as good a wild card matchup as you can get two red hot teams each capable of running the table dominique road starts as the running back here from the seven yard line picks up three up to the 10-yard line he's tackled there by jamal williams the nose tackle we talk about that great punt by ciphers and what that does to an offense it makes them go two tight ends and you use the same type of offense coming out you know coming out of of your own territory as you do going in so they started with two tight ends trying to get a run just to get a little room now they go shotgun and three wide receivers second down and seven defense showing them something now and then changing here they come and from the outside manny's able to get it away and it is wayne did he make the catch no one one no one re one official came in looked like he was going to signal cash but out of bounds antonio cromartie with wayne wayne couldn't get down inbounds and that will make a third down at seven tim dobbins put the pressure on manning on that play and then you could just see that they you know started one way then went to the outside looked like cromartie got a piece of that ball so reggie wayne didn't get control of it right until he was out of bounds just enough just got enough of it and again a big third down stop coming up here as was the case the last time when they stopped them deep and rivers was able to take advantage of the short field third down and seven charges only have two linemen in there four linebackers and then that's their nickel defense five defensive backs and it's possible that dungey's gonna challenge it he looked up at the board it was being juggled and here goes ron winter over to the mentioned challenger on the field is an incomplete pass indianapolis has challenged the incomplete pass nothing like a little ambient sound in the background 355 to the half a challenge upcoming 10-7 colts [Music] all right tony dungy his career record 38 the nfl average this year was 37 as you take a look at this again two things to keep in mind number one when exactly does wayne have control doesn't have control of it here look at the right foot as well the right foot is right up against the line now as he gains control like right there he is still moving he has to have established control and then get both feet inbound so the way we're seeing this right now as he's juggling it this will not be overturned and again the ruling on the field was an incomplete pass ron winter coming out to make the call now after review the ruling on the field stands there's an incomplete pass third down on the 10 yard line indianapolis is charged with a first team timeout so tony dungy felt that was worth a challenge it would have been a first down instead the ball comes back to the 10-yard line but it would have been a first down and gotten him a lot better field position and down in distance situation obviously and here i would i would expect that the chargers are going to bring some heat on this down third down and seven crowding the line they were going to bring some heat and then i think they just audible eyes to cover they backed off it stuck the clock on a screen and he can't get out of anybody's way at the 11 yard line so he gets stopped there and again that charger defense twice now has been able to hold indianapolis without a first down after a great cipher's punt watch number 54 stephen cooper up here after peyton manning audible that's a hand signal that cooper is giving and i think it's a coverage i think it's cover two is what it is anyway i think they did have a blitz call got out of the blitz and went into coverage good chess match right there perfect manning on one side cooper on the other smith's kick is not very good it bounces at the cold 45 and will be downed at about that spot so again rivers has that short field which you took advantage of the last time with three minutes and one second remaining in the opening half you know when you're talking about the charger defense and what they're doing they believe that peyton manning doesn't make his calls until the play clock gets below 10. so they don't show their defense until the play clock is at or lock 10. so now he's made his call now they make their shift and they show him one defense before 10 seconds left and then they get in the defense that they're going to run right at the end that has been very very effective so far for the chargers defense so after cyphers have a 67-yard punt the defense for san diego holds the 34-yard pump is smith now he got scrolls scrolls through the middle and scrolls will have a first down before he's taken down by buffet at the 34-yard line got in behind marcus mcneil and jacob hester and a gain of 11. you know and the way they got in in behind marcus mcneil as they as they pull him watch mcneal right here he's going to pull to the right sproles has patience gets right in behind him makes one cut and then makes the second cut sprole at five foot six look at the size they just they just can't see him behind those big offensive linemen i'll tell you he's something special too i mean in addition to that he's a great runner throws and the catch is made they're going to rule it a 12-yard gain for chris chambers as they single he makes the catch at the 22-yard line [Applause] you know one of the things you know we talk about sproles and you think well he's only five foot six and you know you worry about a smaller running back can he block he's the guy that gets dwight franey on a chip as he goes out for the pattern well you know this is interesting i mean if dungey wants to challenge this and we get we're going to get to the two-minute warning if dhoni if tony challenged it and lost that would be the end of his challenges for the night so it stands for the moment two minute warning [Music] this is a very interesting situation here we're at the two-minute warning but tony dungy could still challenge that last play now look at this this is a 13-yard game in the first down when does chambers have possession and when are his feet down or out of bounds dungey could challenge he might win that challenge the problem is because he had already challenged one and lost that would have been the end of it so he discussed this with ron winter during the break besides not the challenge the play will stand and hear his scrolls to the 20-yard line but that was a fascinating little back and forth right there as to whether tony should or shouldn't yeah then he would have used all his challenges and he would have used one more timeout he might have won that because the left toe was coming up as chambers made the catch it could have been overturned it was that close but dungey for whatever reason and i have to think part of the equation would have to be he has to keep a challenge in his pocket for the second you know when you were half to north turner the other day and he said darren sprawls in this game could very well carry the ball 25 times and second to nine that's pass intended for gates and it's incomplete and i can see that coming i mean it looks like to me that you know he's going to be the back he's going to be the workhorse sproles is carried six times tonight as has tomlinson scrolls has also caught a pass gates has caught five of the chargers seven completions tonight there are the numbers they're similar lt into the endzone for san diego's only touchdown tonight i wouldn't be surprised if they just went maximum protection here now you pick up a first down with chambers over the middle and on third and nine rivers is able to send the ball right over the middle inside the 10. first and goals we took down to a minute yeah and i know just north turner is thinking right here i am going to get this protected i am going to slide i'm going to chip i'm going to do everything to keep dwight freeny out of there and whatever i get after that is going to be frosting on the cake but we're not going to get that strict plumber delvin hayden back in the game here scrolls touchdown san diego not a bad option is it you don't have lt but you do have darren sproles [Applause] san diego with a lead for the first time in the game a nine-yard run after a 34-yard punt 45-yard drive nate gating for the extra point when you look at an mvp for the first half don't forget about the punter mike seifer is setting everything up two short fields and san diego cashes in on both watch jacob hester there was talking about how he's become a better blocker and part of being a a lead blocker is getting through getting through to that second level and i think hester because he's been a tailback does have that talent see how you find work your way through work your way through to get on your guy and then sproles to me is something special i mean he's you know you think you know he's small but i mean he's quick and he can make moves and then he does have some power at the end because you know they always say the lowest guy wins whoever gets the pads lowest he will always be the lowest guy and will he be a sought after free agent in the off season he would be if it were he'd be sought after to stay right here yes right including san diego last year they had to let michael turn to go elected to keep tomlinson now sproles contract is up here's katie to kick off he slipped on his last kickoff [Applause] this time caning remains upright the boot is fielded at the 8-yard line by chad simpson simpson running parallel to the 20-yard line and he's taken down there the ball is loose inside the 20-yard line and the chargers have come up with a ball anthony waters recovers the fumble with 33 seconds remaining this is one area that i felt coming into this game now for the moment they're going to say down by contact is what i think i heard ron winter just say there's no challenge here it can be reviewed upstairs the chargers are nearly apoplectic about this call but again it's a booth review situation right did the ball start out before the knee hits the ground i would say yes yes i would too and that's kasim osgood who's their special teams maven san diego if nothing else san diego takes a time out to make sure to make sure the guys upstairs take a long long look at this or a long enough look to say we have to review it yes it is and there's the announcement from ron winter that it will be reviewed so simpson losing control of the ball it looks like it is coming loose before his knee is down this is what kasim osgood does so well he's he's always the first guy down there and always going for the strip always going to make something happen here he's he has his left hand on the ball there he's starting a strip the knee is down and i don't know if the ball has started out that is close it's closer to that time it looks closer than it did earlier from that angle is closer than it looked from the other angle knee down there right and again the ruling on the field is the one of the critical issues here on an either way call you go with what you call on the field [Applause] knee appears to be down ball is coming out the play is being reviewed to determine if the ball came out before the runner's knee was down well the crowd misinterpreted what he said that he said the play is being reviewed and the cheer from the crowd was as if the call is going to be overturned i'm not sure it is though well they thought that he had been reviewing it that whole time right so did i so did i you wonder what he'd been doing here again number 81 osgood pulling the ball out the ball is starting to leave you can see the knee is down but where's the ball the other component here too is you have to prove it's a fumble is what winter is looking for and also that san diego recovered the ball which appears to be apparent there's osgood creating the fumble anthony waters comes up with the football tony dungy is sprinting sort of he's going down there to get his words in he's all the way down to the 23-yard line you know the guy he's talking to over there and in these playoff games you have two alternate officials and that's one of them right there now here's the other big play of course that chambers catch and we talked about it it was a first down and took the ball from the 34 to the 21 as he collects it his left foot is up and he never gets it down so i think as you look at it again from another angle tony elected not the challenge and a lot of this had to do there it was and i think dungey would have won that challenge but just did not want to leave himself in a playoff game without a second half challenge you know and especially in these types of games with the colts and the chargers it always seems to come down to the fourth quarter and like the last two minutes of the fourth quarter so you know having having a challenge before that last two minutes in the fourth quarter here could be very important the runner with the ball in his control had his knee down on the ground therefore the ruling on the field stands the first down indianapolis yeah that one angle proved to be very conclusive in terms of getting his knee down so the ball will be at the 20-yard line here's his knee there's the ball i remember in the old days when a fumble was a fumble they should have put some more time back on the clock though because the clock kept going until waters was tackled but they leave 33 seconds up on the clock the ball is in the 20-yard line here's manning now manning to the outside and it's almost intercepted by eric weddle intended for dallas clark 28 seconds and second down and 10. i'll tell you in this first half as charger defense has done a great job i mean they wanted to disguise everyone everything they wanted to be physical they wanted peyton manning not to know what they were doing before they did it and i think you know as close to perfection against this cold offense as you can be second down and ten let me just imagine one thing time can only be put back on the clock after a reversal so if the play stands it seems even though it crossed the offense next number of seconds joseph adai takes the ball up to the 23-yard line as uh peyton manning says you know enough's enough right now we'll just take it to the locker room if we can but the san diego chargers have another idea they say we'll take a timeout coming up the toyota halftime show bob costas the bus matt millen is there they'll break down the first half look back at the highlights of the cardinals second post season one of the last 61 years all ahead on the toyota halftime show let's go to andrea well guys ladainian tomlinson went in the locker room after the charger scored that touchdown and that was the plan that if they did score they would get him in early he went in with the trainer and a team doctor to uh check him out and to get a head start on treatment if needed so they were to come back there's no lt lt 5 carries 25 yards turner takes the time out they have one remaining so if they stop them here they can use it at least force the punt and if you force a punt you got a chance to have sproles run it back and the other thing is if you can back them up here a little more you know that fair catch rule and the free kick you can do that bear catching is a free kick with no rushers here's a die and a guy's going to make that all loot a moot point as he picks up a first down is out of bounds at the 34-yard line with 15 seconds left on the clock you know usually that rule will always become mood i know i was a head coach in the nfl for 10 years and i looked for that play for 10 years never did it always had it set up okay we're going to do this we'll take the fair catcher we'll get the free kick never did saw it once paul brown did it once you were too busy designing the holy roller weren't you first until work right here on this field you bet now manning trying to buy time and that class is incomplete [Applause] you're right john that defense has done a great job after manning was able to connect with gonzalez on that one drive indianapolis is only touchdown drive of the half well they're putting pressure on peyton manning and again you don't sack him but you can still be successful with the pressure making him throw it before he's ready making him throw where he doesn't want to making him throw it short when he wants to go deep all those things are effective pressure this time that pass is incomplete and come before gonzalez at the 50-yard line it'll be third down to 10. the winner of this game wins a trip to either pittsburgh or nashville you won't know which until the game between baltimore and miami plays itself out tomorrow but if baltimore were to win that game they would go to tennessee the winner here would go to pittsburgh otherwise it's the reverse if miami wins the game third the guy will end the first half by taking the ball to the 37-yard line so we've come to halftime good game san diego 14 indianapolis 10 in this afc wildcard game coming up next the toyota halftime show with bob costas in the game [Music] the road to the super bowl 29 days from today as we come back to san diego now michael's john madden andrea kramer our entire nbc sports crew here ladainian tomlinson five carries for 25 yards in that first half tomlinson much like last year got hurt in the indianapolis divisional playoff game that he was in uniform but on the bench almost the entire way against new england's behind the dark visor there is sproles who has supplanted him at least for the most part tonight but san diego in that same situation with a couple of very key injuries but again as was the case last year playing very well in the two-yard line running the kickback this will be chad simpson at the 27-yard line first down here comes manning and here comes andrea all right al well the chargers trainer and ladainian tomlinson threw the chargers both say that he is fine now north turner said aside from his concern about lt and how we can hold up in the second half he wants to get his wide receivers more involved chris chambers has two receptions he's the only one as for tony dungy why didn't he challenge the chris chambers catch he said he thought he caught the ball he didn't have enough evidence to overturn it and he didn't want to be in the same position as he was with the reggie wayne in completion and he does expect calvin hayden to be back this happened hayden came back toward the end of that first half so in the secondary on first down this is manning throwing deep over the middle and finding reggie wayne reggie gets free on the right side and is out of bounds inside san diego territory at the 43 yard line a gain of 31 on the opening play of the third period yeah peyton manning was saying last night that this is kind of their new best way to get deep you know that they're having a tough time running their wide receivers up the field so so instead of going up the field they're going across the field now peyton manning when he's going to take it's going to take a little time so he has to work the pocket hold the ball move him on just a little to buy an extra split second to get that cross in there from the 43-yard line indianapolis still looking for a running game all season long looking for a running game next to last in rushing and tonight that's a die on his 10th carry he's gained only 28 yards their biggest rush was that nine yard gain by clark on the end around right and i think that they'll be looking for a running game all night but they want to do just enough of it so that the chargers have to play run and that they can maybe play action pass some second down in eight and that's caught on the near side by joseph padai coming out of the backfield and making the catch just short of the 33-yard line and it appears from here to be a little short of the first down [Applause] and that's probably a better way to get a a long gainer to your running back i mean joseph would die you run them inside you gain a yard or two you're throwing the ball in the flat you can get five or six third down short one [Applause] as you can see they've been far more effectiveness passing in these situations than running and they'll stay on the ground and it's a die so we put up that graphic and again that's the whole thing about indianapolis this year offensively that running game unable to get on track 3.4 yards per carry on average trying to run through jamal williams and he got in the backfield and that's what you can't have in this situation you can't get penetration jamal williams gets a penetration he just pushes jeff saturday right back and then there's no place to cut there's no cutback you see he looks the cutback and the only thing there is big jamal williams and the colts are going for it daryl reed the defensive lineman is the full back of dye is the tailback fourth and one the fake to a die this time they'll try to do it through the year manning is pressured manning will throw a wobbly passage incomplete weddle with the coverage on the play intended for geon robinson just enough pressure as manning was flushed out of the pocket castillo running him toward the sideline and the chargers take over on downs [Music] if peyton manning is sitting there in the bench he just slammed the pictures down because he did have reggie wayne open on this one it was a bootleg first he's looking for number 44 dallas clark there then he threw it to geon robinson he didn't want to do that but look what he has deep here reggie wayne a little stutter step and he gets by antonio cromartie and castillo is able to put enough pressure on manning to force him to settle for an attempt to robinson and this is darren scrolls knocked [Applause] that's why he was slamming those pictures down on the bench because he just looked and he'd seen that you know had he had a little time that he could have thrown a touchdown pass to reggie wayne tomlinson still on the bench here in the third quarter early third rivers 34 touchdown fastest time grew breeze for the league leave this here led the league back to throw sends it off into the clock who scrolls and scrolls is up to the 36-yard line for a very short gain tackle there by the outside linebacker taiwan hagler in the two third and eight you know i haven't noticed it a lot tonight but the charger players were talking this week about the field being slippery they said they felt a little last week they saw it in the holiday bowl where everyone was slipping on this field and i haven't seen much of it tonight but maybe maybe that one by darren sprawls there was a swift yeah they had the holiday ball the front city ball was played here as well game one sunday night third and seven from the 37. rivers gets contacted but gets it away and the pass is complete and forward privacy got a first down and a flag as well tim jennings that time with the coverage on the play chris chambers makes the tackle rivers this year has been great after he's been contacted as opposed to what he was last year i'll tell you who was great when they were blocking freiny defense number 23 penalty's decline was on the play the first down and that was the thing that they have to do if they're going to get it off mcneal is going to have to get freeny block and he got right at the end there just enough push to push freely beyond them so that so the rivers could step up [Applause] first down 45 yard line they think again rivers out of the pocket and he'll throw that one intended for crows for scrolls and incomplete i just talked about the fact that rivers last year when contacted was not very good look at that 33 rating 31st in the league and this year the best in the league so he triples more than triples his figure 110 rating after he gets contacted by the defense as was the case on that conversion one thing north turner was talking about that when he had to rehab his knee he came to rehab his whole body and he was lifting weights and he's gotten stronger so so plays like that don't knock him down he's strong enough that you get a hand on him and you can feel that and just step up a little and still make the play that's one of the things that ben walker does so brilliantly scrolls now and scrolls will come up a little short in the first half tackled there by tim jennings daryn scrolls at five feet six 181 talked about it last week when he was born he was 10 pounds at birth and so they nicknamed him tank that's a tank here when you can be tank and have this kind of quickness you're something i mean he can you know give him a block and he's going to take it inside or outside antonio gates gets a pretty good luck that's what you want to do that that end man that guy that you know has to turn it back in you want him knocked back off the line and it makes running a heck of a lot easier third down and a short two blix is on river steps up in the throws and the pass is incomplete jennings again is in on the coverage intended for chris chambers and it will be fourth down turn has gone to the glasses trying to come up with a play and i think the first quarterback that opens up you know and starts you know you know getting in a flow and getting past protection thing is probably going to win this game i think that so far the defenses or the pressure of the defenses have won the game mike ciphers for the longest postseason punt in 16 years and he downed it inside the five yard line it led to a touchdown and this kick is fair quarter of a nine yard line so cypress has been absolutely brilliant tonight ratliff with a fair catch 38-yard extremely effective boot and indianapolis will take over down by four [Music] peyton manning marvin harrison will each go to the hall of fame someday 112 touchdowns in the nfl record in a regular season but in 14 postseason games only two touchdowns and tonight marvin one catch eight yards the colts will start to strive at the nine this is their fourth drive that started from the ten or inside the tent and speaking of harrison there he is making his second catch of the night for a gain of close to nine yards that was just a slant and then the next thing that will be off of that will be a cross [Applause] second and a yard and a half from just outside the 18-yard line manning is 17-27 to 190 yards and when he changes the play he has to get it up and down the line [Applause] yard line and a first down for the colts [Applause] and we see the play clock in there and the defense wait until 10 seconds to get into what they're going to do and i wonder if the colts have figured that out and maybe they're going to start instead of taking the play clock down to one or two maybe they're going to start snapping it at around 10. as manning did on that last play first down down goes here at 11 seconds and peyton's going to go deep intending for wayne and the pass is incomplete antonio primardi who intercepted manning here in the regular season game last year three times three of the six they had off of peyton his stride for stride with wayne you know that's what the chargers are doing more of now is bringing the pressure and you see case in here coming from this this right side he was the the fifth defensive back the nickel corner playing on the slot so when you get that blitz peyton manning knows one thing i have man the man on reggie wayne and i want to try and get him the ball deep good coverage by crow marty second and ten and this time you've got giles tucker coming across the line and ron winter with the flag here offside defense moving into the neutral zone caused the offense to false start five yard penalty second down you know what happens those guys on the end of the line of scrimmage they have to look to the inside and you see he's looking right here and he sees saturday go down right there when saturday tipped down that was his key that the ball was going to be snapped and saturday gave him a false start he did and with the the clock ticking down as well so he's trying to jump the gun can't here's manning hanging in the pocket throwing and the pass incomplete intended for reggie wayne the coverage very good that time again by the safety eric little second year out of the university of utah you know that's one thing that i noticed about this charger defense especially the secondary they are contesting passes now now they snap it quickly they catch them and this is reggie wayne who gets out in front inside the 10 and all the way for the touchdown so you saw manning say get up get up let's snap it quickly and reggie wayne has just gone 62 yards gets by antonio camardi and on a third down in five it's a touchdown well you know when it all started as the chargers tried to substitute and then he trying anytime you try and substitute in the colts they're going to snap it quickly to catch you off balance you need to get 12 men on the field or to get a big play like this to reggie wayne look at cromartie he wasn't even looking he was kind of standing there he was in that disguise mode and he sure as that wasn't in any cover mode not at all as vineterry will tack on the extra point 91 yards five plays and the kick is good with 8-10 remaining in the third quarter the indianapolis colts retake the lead in san diego 17-14 [Applause] [Music] next week all your favorite nbc shows all new all week the premieres of superstars of dance the biggest loser and how we do it starting tomorrow night right here on nbc peyton manning catching the charger defense napping trying this substitute reggie wayne getting behind for marty he wasn't even looking at anything except the bench as the ball was released and it's 17-14 and that's followed by a venetian touchback and we go back to the touchdown john well that's kind of the rules of the no huddle and peyton manning that as long as you don't substitute he'll take his time but when you try and substitute he is going to want the ball quickly he wants the ball snap all right now i watch him ask for the ball i watch crow marty here he's in coverage he's looking at the sidelines he's not even looking at reggie wayne so the chargers should know that when you substitute they're going to quick snap you [Applause] [Music] and ron rivera the defensive coordinator will see reggie wayne in his sleep he was the defensive coordinator of the bears when wayne got free on a busted coverage in the indianapolis chicago super bowl two years ago the only thing he could be arguing about is if the colts substituted they have to give you time now rivers on first down steps up and the cash is made here by esther jacob taking over as the starting fullback taiwan hagler making the stop gain of six second and four but you know that's one of the advantages of the of the no huddle that you can kind of snap the ball when you want to and earlier it was snap it late you know take it down to two seconds and then they they made an adjustment at half time now they take it earlier okay now if they try and substitute let's catch him right now with a quick snap halfway through the field scrolls tries to get to the outside and he's taken down by killing hayden questioned whether hayden would even be playing after he was hurt in the first half he came back at the end of the half makes the tackle here we have not seen ladainian tomlinson at all in the second half lt had five carries for 25 yards and a touchdown in the first half i think this is one of the things that scrolls has so much life in them that you would say i would rather go with a healthy spry scrolls and i would rather go with a half speed ladainian thomas third and six and then sets up in the backfield with scrolls the fake to down scrolls and now rivers has to buy time rivers against the grain finds the open man out of the 48-yard line and that's chris chambers so chambers gets free jennings makes the tackle and a big third and sixth conversion at 25 yards you know here's where philip rivers is so good in the pocket he can't run a lick we know that but he does move enough just to keep a play alive and as he's moving he keeps looking up field and he keeps everything alive and his receivers know that now that you know if he starts to move if he's buying [Applause] if he's in there he's in here for a blocker and they'll try to block here but won't have the opportunity because darren sproles gets stopped as he crosses the line of scrimmage just shy of the 50-yard line kasim osgood is one of those great special teams players real tough guy and they don't put him in as a receiver if they do put him in i think it's just to give a guy a breather and use him as a blocker yeah the minus one of their better wideouts malcolm floyd who suffered a collapse lung in kansas city toward the end of the season has been practicing but can't make it again tonight inactive second down and nine at the 50-yard [Music] and line picks up the first down and then slips as he crosses the 40-yard line he's not in behind chris will go to the problem with blocks like that first down in the 38-yard line jacob hester gets enough of a lead there and as you say chris dielman the left guard is going to pull right there so he gets a lead right there the pull right there he gets in behind it stays small and then just makes his move pretty good block by hester real good block by chris steele now michael bennett comes into the game again with lt on the bench scrolls on the bank here's bennett who went to the pro bowl as a viking in o2 and rivers will throw it away so lt we haven't seen him since about 10 and a half minutes remained in the first half yeah i mean he was he was okay to to get dressed and he was okay maybe to start but he wasn't okay to be lp and give him you know 20 25 carries in this game [Applause] [Music] and now you've got michael bennett and he makes his charger debut by picking up a first down at the 25-yard line bennett with minnesota as we mentioned with the provo on o2 he was their future back most recently with tampa bay earlier this season played sparingly they let him go the chargers pick them up as insurance and he just pays a premium i was watching him practice on thursday and they gave him quite a few plays and and i talked to philip rivers about it after the practice and he said yesterday which would have been wednesday he said was the first time that i ever handed the ball off to him he said but i think he may help us in this game they were theorized when they picked them up and one of the reasons to pick them up is that to keep them away from the broncos with all of their injuries and running back now rivers secondary does its job and rivers just has to dump it incomplete second down and ten with 346 remaining in the third yeah i think he's more effective when he can just move in the pocket and keep the play alive this is good coverage here this is what he's looking at that's the offside now he had to run out here to the right so the only thing he can see is anything that would be off here to his right see when he starts moving here he has to look there so he can see he can see his back running out of bounds and you can see somewhere deep he's covered he can't he can't see anything on that back side second down and ten from the 24-yard line let's spin around by rivers and he gets lego dude at the 10-yard line for a first down where the heck did that come from north turner's pulling out everything you know and that's something even lt smiles at that one that's kind of a what do you call a pirouette yep and it's just it's just a quick reverse pivot is what it is and then throw a slant you usually open up to the side you're going to throw the slam so and this one he opened up the opposite side reverse pivot and then come back out and hit his slant a little later first from the nines makes the stop the colts this season allowed in 16 games six touchdown passes the fewest in the nfl since the 73 dolphins and the 73 dolphins won the super bowl because they really you know they can pressure here so you better keep guys in you know to get dwight freiny and mathis block and if you do that then they can double everyone here around the end zone so it all starts with their password two of those six touchdowns that the colt defense muted touchdown passes were thrown by rivers here's scrolls looking through a block inside the five and slithers his way to the one yard line and then the ball rolls for the back of the end zone but i think they're going to rule it dead at the one-yard line and that is the call along the sideline as sproles goes down ron winter goes over to check it with his associate here's a look aaron sproles is a great screen runner and you see as he starts to go down the ball comes out at the two yard line recovered by the defense in the end zone therefore there's a touch back first down they're going to rule it a fumble recovered by brock in the end zone for a touch back will turner challenge is the question [Music] apparently there will be no challenge north turners had enough time they looked at it we did too we don't think it would have been overturned it was a fumble because the ball came loose before scrolls was down and it was recovered by raheem brock in the end zone for a touch back it was a great play by tim jennings the corner who stripped it if i could look at it in the second first down now from the 20-yard line and the pass is caught by fought a game of four 24 here's the play now see there's tim jennings right there see that his left hand in there just strips a ball out of sprawl's hand the ball is coming out before any part of his other than his hand hits the ground and then it couldn't get out of the end zone and raheem brock gets it before it goes out of the end zone second down and six in the 24 yard line a minute to go in the third manning steps away from the pressure and the pass is almost intercepted by cromartie after the deflection [Applause] this wild card playoff game brought to you by hyundai assurance we're all in this together we'll get through it together by vizio america's hgtv company to learn more log on to vizio.com and by chili's pepper in some fun third and six in the 24 yard line [Applause] manning loves to find gonzalez on third down plays he's got overall six passes tonight he was his main man on third down in the regular season gonzalez comes out of the slot manning this time will go to the right side and that pass is almost intercepted that was steve gregory with the deflection so it is a three and out for the san diego defense yeah gregory has kind of replaced clinton hart in this in his past defense he's on the he's on the right side there and you just see him just reading peyton manning peyton manning makes a throw he's sitting back there in a too deep he makes a throw gets a jump on it right there and as you say he almost intercepted it and the chargers were last in the league in getting three announced defensively meanwhile as you said before indianapolis led the league in third down conversions after that fumble that was a big third down parker swiss punt fielded at the 16-yard line great punt scrolls good return up past the 40 to the 45-yard line where he gets taken down there by phillip wheeler a 58-yard boost final minute of the play in the third [Music] february 1st was springsteen the east street band performing at halftime of super bowl 43. that's february 1st and you'll see it right here on nbc2 vixen jackson has not caught a pass tonight he's at 90 yards or better in each of his last three postseason games but a goose egg to this point 44 yard line 58 ticks left in the third antonio gates lines up in the backfield as the blocking back floor scrolls [Music] [Applause] [Music] yard line for a gain of nine yards yeah it was interesting you know i was talking to darren sprawls last week and he said i think i can be an every down back and he's going to prove it now now here's here's the thing that you worry about when you cut back you worry about bob sanders right there bob sanders said last night he said i'm the smallest guy in the field you know and i said no i don't think you are the smallest guy he just met the smallest guy in the field right now same as five eight scrolls at five six do you never think the bob sanders [Applause] inside the 40-yard line he just keeps on going you know i love the way they say running backs you try to get small he doesn't have to try first down to end the third quarter end of three in this wild card game indianapolis 17 san diego 14 and this wild card game from southern california continues after these messages from your nbc station [Music] aerial coverage tonight brought to you by duracell from san diego we start the fourth quarter at qualcomm stadium al michaels john madden and andrea kramer three-point game first and ten at the 42-yard line michael bennett the running back here making his charger debut and rivers is going to go down at the 50-yard line for an eight-yard sack as dwight frane is the first guy to get there and that's fringy's second sack of the night yeah it's an all-day job when you have dwight freiny over there and they and their chargers are trying to do something you see they have the tight end on them so that widens them out so then mcneal has to jump out here then he comes and he spins to the inside you see but all the tight end it doesn't help him it just widens him out and then when mcneal jumps out freeny feels that and starts his spin and then he's inside right on phillip rivers that padman moved back to kane this year from foot surgery hurt himself here in the regular season game last year now this is bennett he's going to try to cut it back inside and bennett will find his way to the 44-yard line setting up a third and long you know that's an old north turner thing that after a guy gets you on a sack or gives you a big pass rush run a draw right at him you see when freiny runs up the field like that he gives you this five hole draw but again bennett doesn't get to it quickly enough or the colt defense is so quick and so fast and tackles so well that they can still make the play scrolls comes back in third down and 13. rivers out of the shotgun phillips steps up he's going to run points at where he wants to block the goal that's about as good as you can expect from fellow forevers phillip rivers takes it to the 33 yard line where it's gonna be fourth down and one and he had scrolls out in front of him i'll tell you that was making something out of nothing because you know as i said earlier and even last week philip rivers cannot run a lick he gets a block there but then he stays in bounds and keeps fighting to get that ball up to the first down marker who he points to block the sproles tries to stay in bounds and he knows exactly where it has to go for a first down fourth and one but the chargers the play clock is all the way down to two to one he tries to sneak it for a first down the chargers lead in getting out there does he have it the other line of course is unofficial and actually the colts are going to point in the other direction they spot the ball well that's the key they spotted it right again they have to bring the chains out but they just did get the play off i think it was one of those things you know that happened to them last time they played is as they didn't get exactly what they needed for the first down so then they had to take a time out just looking at that i mean it looks like he does have enough forward momentum there for the first down and then he was knocked back so it's just getting the ball over that line of scrimmage that much is all you need that's all you need phillip rivers two great plays in a row i mean you know you always think your quarterback is going to make some great pass but when philip rivers makes two runs especially that first one to get it in position that you can go for the quarterback sneak on fourth down that is stop the pressure stuff but look at this effort i mean you know most quarterbacks are looking for that sideline getting out of bounds and everything he's looking for that first down marker to get the ball out there now this is playoff football rivers as tough as they as they come played in the afc championship game with a torn acl that was surgically repaired in the offseason then he goes deep from the end zone and has the pass intercepted by antoine buffet and if they will run it out of the end zone there's a flag that's thrown at the 36 yard line and who knows where this play will end or wind up it'll stop right now as you have buffet in the end zone on a pass intended for chris chambers that was overthrown and they just had and that's you know that's again a norv turner thing when you when you change your momentum when you get a big play when something like take a shot and here he's going to take the shot and you can see it against his own it's against cover two he has a corner there and the safety just sitting over the top personal foul block below the waist number 99 of the return team 15-yard penalty first down that's antonio johnson with the penalty but indianapolis has the ball as they thwart the chargers again [Music] 29 days for the super bowl 12 teams in the playoffs arizona we know will be moving on atlanta will not and it will all culminate on the first day of february super bowl 43 tampa florida right here on nbc two vital turnovers chargers on their last two possessions now the colts will start this drive from the 21-yard line they've got clark lined up in the backfield with the dog manning throws it's caught by clark who comes out of the backfield the flag is down and at the 45-yard line he's taken out of bounds but a penalty marker is thrown and ron winner will so signal this one against indianapolis offense number 63 a 10-yard penalty repeat first down senator jeff saturday yeah that's that's when you can't get your body or your shoulders in position you trip there's saturday right here sean phillips is coming to the inside oh that's why he couldn't get his body in because he fell down jeff saturday falls down so he sees phillips coming he's going to get to peyton manning the only thing that he can do is trip him colts from the 11. it's first down and 20. rush four clark again and pockets taken down by steven cooper just short or on the 15-yard line and we second down and 16. and the chargers defense gets the colts back up and they're going to bring the pressure they came from their left side the colts right side and that's that's the side that he's through well you can't do any one thing to the colts of peyton manning you you need mixture and you have to disguise everything ron rivera's defense has done a lot of good things tonight and one terrible thing that's the difference in the game and manning throws and that is caught very close to a first down by reggie wayne and wayne is down to the 31-yard line and that will be a first down you see where reggie wayne goes after he catches the ball just walks outside the numbers he said he said that's what i love about this no huddle is is you could stay outside you said you catch a ball you just stay right there where you caught it you see his fingers last night oh yeah yeah he's had seven dislocated fingers i mean he has gloves on him here but those are ten ugly things that married last spring his wife had to buy him one of those things that you know open up in the middle right right [Applause] up to the 35-yard line as we took down to 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter [Applause] you know it's one of these games you know it's gonna come down to the fourth quarter and probably the last possession or two and this is what the no huddle is so good for is you when you have to play hurry up you're you're already that's that's what you do that's what you're used to although the colts don't have to play no uh hurry up right now obviously second down and six manning will throw this one on the outside again and it is they will spot the ball just past the 42-yard line and that is a first down do you feel that dallas clark is his guy now that anytime he needs a play he's going to put dallas clark in a position that you know he can work him to get the ball to him that seven catches where he caught 26 passes over the last three games of the season he didn't even play that much in the last game last week against tennessee didn't mean anything usually a security guy for a quarterback will be a guy that can work the inside now this is a guy or dominique rhodes dominic rhodes again that time gets stood up by matt wilhelm up to the 48-yard line rhodes who had a big super bowl performance for indianapolis against chicago a couple years ago then they let him go to oakland then he came back this year second and five the guy on the sideline rhodes flanks manning three down lineman four-man rush and that's caught short of the first down it goes to marvin harrison gets taken back by eric whittle and a very big third and two coming up you know eric weddle has had a big game in tackling you know any time that they catch the ball in there they catch it in front of you that's okay but tackle like that and if they catch it right there boom stop them right where they catch it the thing that you can't do is give a lot of run after the catch this is where the colts like to run pick plays but but the chargers aren't giving them an alignment here they have one corner off they don't have them both up instead they'll go with rhodes and rose will with a shoulder lean pick up enough for the first down so they go to the left side they run roads and they move the chains and i think that was one of the things that they caught him you know worrying about the pass they were going to give him a pass rush you see the the end getting up the field just like freinie did and they just run inside him you see that big hole they give him right there chargers expecting pass playing pass could not handle the run first and ten already a clock eating drive they've had the ball for five minutes 7 11 remaining in the fourth and he fires over the middle and that one is not picked off it is incomplete cason almost came up with it it was anthony gonzalez who was the intended receiver and it was dropped by him to the ground well did you see the way that ball came out of there i mean it looked like he it looked like he threw a slider i mean that thing was was moving right and left and it wasn't tipped or anything when i saw it come on i thought someone tipped that ball but it was just a funny spin on it kept it spiraled [Applause] second and 10. adai comes back into the game roy hall is also in the game 83 will come out of the slot manny gets flushed out and manning will just have to heave it into the bench and there's a flag at the 42-yard line that's what the chargers have done well a number of times tonight peyton manning get him off the spot offense number 67 a 10 yard penalty repeat second down you know as long as he can stay in the pocket and move around in the pocket he's the best if you can get him off that spot in the pocket get him going right or left no one is as effective but he's not he's not nearly as effective second and 20. from the 44-yard line and this is a die going nowhere so you're going to have a third down and 21. that was one of those things that the chargers had two deep safeties and and the peyton manning that has always said two deep safeties means seven man front seven man front means run and he said he's trying to get away from that just let the clay fall stay but i think that's what the chargers are doing they're playing the the two safeties deep and inviting him to either throw short or run the ball third and 21. manning flag is thrown and the pass is incomplete so the charger defense as they've done for most of the night [Applause] great defense for the charger comes up big offense [Music] decline it's the fourth down ryan dean this coming after the colts had had the ball for five minutes we talked about moving peyton manning off his spot here's a spot right here there he's moved off the spot now he becomes mediocre there's nothing to throw to see here he'll eat you up in there you get him out here and there's not much to do hunter smith to punt darren scrolls is back to returning high floating kick short kick that takes a sideways bounce and goes out of bounds at around the 27 yard line so you have 558 left in the fourth in this wild card playoff game pulse by three [Music] monday night jay leno on the tonight show coming up this week kerry bradshaw will be kicking off the week dustin hoffman daniel craig and others this week on the tonight show with jay leno [Music] so the san diego chargers now tomlinson has not played since early in the second quarter start this drive from the 29-yard line rivers with a pump fake and then has to dump it off underneath and this is scrolls and scrolls out to the 46-yard line for a first down tackle there by clint session a gain of 17. you know and here's where it's going to be pass protection and pass rush and here's the guy you got to get blocked right here dwight franey as long as he stays outside mcneal is okay he could push him right by and get a little help from his guard chris nielman where they're having trouble is when feedy starts up the field and then comes inside with that spin move nice scrolls will try to cut it back inside up to the 49-yard line he goes taiwan hagler makes the tackle and we tick down to the five minute mark i kind of felt before this game that all the pregame talk is going to be about lt and tomlinson and playing and groin and all that stuff but the game is going to be about darren sproles and and that's the way it's turning out i mean you know all that thing kenny clayton doesn't make any difference can he play can he play the whole game can he be affected and can he finish and he couldn't 16 carries four receptions running back kicks and punch but right now the fumble one of the big plays in the game rivers will buy time rolling left looking down field throws and is lucky that one wasn't intercepted there were three colts around there tim jennings with the tip and rivers got away with one third and seven and sometimes sometimes you know keeping the play alive as you just have too much confidence what here's dwight freeny there he's getting the pressure on him now he can move there and reset and throw and that's what he tries to do but he just forced it into double coverage vincent jackson who still hasn't caught one i know and then you'd like to get it to vincent jackson but in this situation you can't force it to him or anyone third down and seven michael bennett's the running back rivers dumps it off and that is bennett and bennett will lunge for let's see does he get the first or not again the yellow line is unofficial the ball is at the 44-yard line ronald winker says stop the clock i'm bringing in the change from the near side when you were looking at the at the line from here it looked like it was over and then that official kind of brought it back and now it's very very questionable look at the way he holds the ball there at the end it's where his knee goes down where the ball is where his knee goes down right and it is just short isn't it it appears to be i i don't know that turner could challenge this spot it looks like it's going to be a little short now you got to make the decision or is it oh my god first down all it has to do is nudge up against the stick wow norv takes a deep breath on that one i'll say i mean he probably would have got it on a quarterback you don't want to prove that you can no there's a heck of an end there by michael bennett watch out watch how he protects it because one thing about him he's a pretty good runner but he he does have a tendency to fumble bennett and hester are the running backs right now gets a breather four minutes gain a one bend it again you know one thing that the chargers have to be thinking here is is you want to score but you don't want to score too quickly so you know you have to have patience i mean this isn't one of those things when you get to the you know 45 yard line that you have to take a shot of camzone i think you can methodically work the ball down the field they know that better than anybody they left enough time for manning in november and he won the game second down and 10. that spin around move by rivers rivers is going to go deep rivers for nane and it's incomplete the ball floating on a for a moment got behind the defender but the pass is incomplete and it's third down and 10. kelvin hayden was there yeah when he threw that when he made that spin move he was trying to throw a slant out to the left he was trying to go to the other side and then you see nanea was just running the short out and when he sees the scramble he turns up but that bethea has been there all night over the top i mean they're not going to get anything deep because buffet is going to keep everything in front of him and when you do throw deep he is going to be over the top any of your deep receivers he has been all night and rat left the corner on the play and the chargers right now are going to call a time out their first before a third and ten the book ends freiny two sacks mathis one though trying to put the pressure on this is a very big in critical situation because what do you do if you don't make it do you go for it the two-time last one the two minute warning left is this four down territory it's third and ten bob sanders is up so we got three diva and rivers is going to go down and that pressure came from the outside again and mathis gets the sack a gigantic sack that's his second yeah we always talk about pass protection and pass rush this is when you need it right here this is a play right here you know is your pass protection going to handle their pass rush the answer is no colts win colts win that battle i'm talking about laura turner saying the other day it's going to depend on our offensive tackles and that right now a critical sack as cyphers punt look at this again he does it again [Applause] at the two-yard line mike ciphers with 241 two timeouts plus the two-minute warning after a 52-yard kick [Music] the colts used to starting in this position they started drives at the ten three seven nine and now one yard line a die is the running back again the chargers two timeouts plus the two minute warning first and ten from the one a die and that's a pretty good run it's a real good run under the circumstances it forces san diego to take a timeout they take it right here but that's a gain of six and it'll be second down and four this wild card playoff game being brought to you by geico 15 minutes could save you 15 percent on car insurance by toyota and the line of scrimmage and by mcdonald's [Music] you're coming out there the colts did a good job there of double teaming jamal williams because we know how big a presence jamal williams is when you're on the goal line going in well it's the equal presence right there and they get jeff saturday on then they bring the guard down on them and that just gives them enough push that a diet can get through there i mean if they were to to if they were to single right here they wouldn't have had a chance but when they got that double that got him turned and going back and created the hole second and four from the seven a die and jamal williams is in a timeline a timeout again taken by san diego so that's their final clock will stop at the two minute warning and upcoming will be [Music] a gigantic third and two yeah the chargers were very stout on that run i think the first down they they played it and the colts had a good plan second down they played run real hard olshansky got some penetration over there and again jamal williams played like jamal williams now this is a passing now i mean this is where where the colts will usually use that crossing thing or some kind of kick any any third and two or three is when they write like to run those patterns start starts with a slant then it could be a cross and if you have two corners up in the same side could be a pit 70 000 hearts beating pretty furiously right now third and two for the colts at the nine yard line and they split a die out he's to the left manning looks there man he's going to get sacked at the one yard line tim dobbins is there diamonds comes up with a football big defense there you talk about putting pressure on i'm surprised the colts win empty when there's no backs here they know that it's going to be a pass and they just came with the pass rush they brought the blitz they brought dobbins from the backside i don't think peyton manning saw him he didn't he held on diamonds came away with it but after the whistle this is going to set smith up in the back of the end zone as we come to the two-minute warning oh what an ending this is going to be what a rivalry this has turned out to be the colts and the chargers [Music] boy the wheels are spinning right now you know if if the colts either take a safety or if the chargers were to block a punt for two points it would set up a free kick from the 20-yard line here you've got hunter smith standing at the back line of the end zone you've got schools running to return at the 50-yard line you got smith who will accept the snap from justin snow [Applause] and he'll get it away and it's a very good kick very good scrolls from the 38-yard line into colts territory inside the 40. he takes it over the 38-yard line roy hall makes the tackle there now philip rivers will go to work from the 38-yard line of the you know when i was talking to philip rivers the other day he was talking about how much calmer he is now and he doesn't get excited and antsy like he used to and this is when he has to be calm this is when he has to be patient this is when he has to not force anything not do anything stupid that was a 63-yard beauty by smith and a 26-yard return remember the chargers don't have any timeouts from the 38-yard line rivers [Applause] toward the line of scrimmage and incomplete into the second down at 10. try to get scrolls on the screen yeah he was trying to and that's the way you throw a screen away they they let you legally do that you see sproles is right here mathis is going to make a good play by grabbing him there he grabs sproles so phillip rivers has no one referred to watch mathis right here he grabs sprawls there he reads its screen so he just knocks him down nate gaining the field goal kicker his career along 57 yards at tampa two weeks ago it's all about pass production from the 38 over the middle that is caught this is gates gates after a hot start tonight he's been silent for the last couple of quarters but picks up a big first down here at the 37-yard line lt can only spectate right now it was going to come down to this right to the end pulsing the charges they have played some beauties in the last four years river shows that's caught that'll be your first down that's gates again to the 21-yard line rivers is going to spike it here already in field goal range rivers no timeouts indicating he's going to spike it and does with 53 seconds remaining it'll be second down and 10. [Applause] in postseason under 45 for five but when you get them from 40 plus one of five you know we talked about those two tackles and pass protection and on the previous possession the two offensive tackles lost on this one they won i mean you have to give them credit on those two passes we know about philip rivers we know about gates getting open catching all that but doggone he had time these two tackles got their job done when they had to second down and ten from the 16-yard line the line does its job again rivers running out of time running out of room and the pass is incomplete with 46 seconds [Applause] you know again rivers is is smart here when he when he gets out of the pocket here and he starts out now he knows once he's past the tackle if he doesn't have someone wide open just throw it away the other thing that's going to happen here too john if they go for the end zone and it's incomplete and katie kicks a field goal you're going to still leave manning with enough time and the chargers know that all too well they know what's gonna happen when you do that yeah they found out six weeks ago he said they'll keep it on the ground they give it to scrolls oh and he takes it to the six yard line so now you've got a fourth and one and you're really you're compelled here to go with katie it's fourth and one tony dungy's gonna he says come on i'm calling a timeout i need the time and tony's saying you didn't see me gough the right guard the chargers made a good block on that play he's made a number of good blocks pulling from his right to the left but here he is right here i think these charger guards have played well tonight and leading and making plays like that for darren sprawls dungey's trying to call the timeout trying to get somebody's attention i don't know why he can't get the attention of his own players it used to be that players would call timeout then they let the coaches call timeout but players can still call timeout why didn't he just yell to his players call timeout why don't they see us nate keating over two and league changing field goes in the last two minutes or overtime in postseason but this is really a chip shot for one of the better kickers in the league despite the the negative information we've been feeding you here over the last couple of minutes the ball will be spotted at the 16. this is a 26-yard attempt manning putting the helmet on the colts have two timeouts when they get the ball back ciphers to hold it david bend to snap it and that kick is good nate kaden bangs it through to tie the game at 17. but 31 seconds remaining for peyton manning in the colts [Applause] two completions to gage on that drive you had five passes one rush [Applause] gates and then the sproles taking the ball just short of the first down and i still say that it was about pass protection cypher is able to put it down of course if scrolls had gained an extra yard then you spike it then you go for the win you don't get into the end zone but you know if if if if it's been the story of the indianapolis and san diego series in the last four years and now we know that once we're in playoffs we have true sudden death overtime this isn't just one quarter right you can play till tuesday morning if need be nate kaning to kick off chad simpson to run it back the clock starts when simpson touches the ball now from the five-yard line simpson gets taken down good coverage by the treasures 18-yard line 24 seconds for the colts kind of in a little bit of no man's land here with 24 seconds right and it's the type of thing i think you try and get a first down if you get a first down then you maybe go for one more first down then if you get that then you go for the win if you don't if on this possession if you don't come close to getting the first down then i think you just run out the clock right they need to gain about 40 yards to give vinatari a shot of the field goal inside play fake throw it over the middle to a die and a die is going to take us to the 25 and that is going to set up a timeout here by indianapolis but i started to say going to set up the next drama in the game which is going to be heads or tails and meanwhile you've got giles tucker who goes down the outside linebacker he plays in this half and this was gigantic because that san diego defense has been for the most part magnificent tonight but they fell asleep here manning saw it wayne sprints down the numbers for marty asleep on the play for a touchdown this was scrolls inside the 10 inside the five would have been a first and goal instead he fumbled recovered by brock then you had rivers running on third and fourth down to pick up a first now but then throwing an interception and tucker is down still on the turf for san diego they put three more seconds on the clock there was a shot tucker right there he came in and made that hit i'll tell you the charger defense i think has has been outstanding i mean they had that one thing that we just showed where they they kind of fell asleep on a substitution thing and a quick snap but i mean they they've really played well they kept most things in front of them made peyton manning go for the short stop tackled very very well and no punter could have ever had a better postseason game than mike cypress has had tonight i he put that defense in pretty good position tonight [Applause] so tucker will walk off the field antoine applewhite will come in for him folks have one timeout second down and four from the 25-yard line applewhite plays quite a bit i mean he kind of rotates with with tucker in there and the inside linebackers and they use him as a rover type guy and a pass rusher and a and a drop guy and he's he's really pretty good at both and now all they're thinking about is drop i mean they're just going to drop they're going to have too deep they're going to keep all the receivers in front of them [Applause] couple of sacks tonight for frane will his defense have to come back on the field that's going to be the question if we go to overtime the funny thing we talked about you know the coin flip situation with tony dungy last night who had been on the competition committee and said hey would you like to see that rule change refs are conferring about something they'll try to get it for you in a second player san diego is charged with our fourth team timeout please restore the team timeout charge to indianapolis they have two timeouts in remaining so indianapolis instead of taking that timeout because of the injury they get charged and they were out of timeouts they couldn't take a timeout or be charged with one they were out of them so you put another timeout back on the indianapolis ledger with the dungeons thought about the point flip in the second and second down and four from the 25. manning going to the outside that's a die and a guy will not get out of bounds he's up to the 31-yard line and the colts will spend a timeout here so andy we were talking to dungey about it last night about hey how do you feel about especially in postseason would you like to see the rule change where you you know had each team have the opportunity he said no he likes it the way it is we'll find out in a couple of minutes if he still is going to like it the way it is i would say the same thing i like i like the rules the way they are and i don't think that we have to go to any college rules where you you know both teams get a possession and you know you know what the rule is and like tony said if if you lose a flip then your defense has to do it you know i mean it's not like you lose a flip and then you don't get to play defense go out and play defense and get the ball back and and i agree with that totally the most that's why the rules haven't been changed i think most of the guys who have been in the past and are right now in the competition committee feel the same way [Applause] sean phillips just walked off the field so you've got tucker and phillips who've both come out of the game in the last two plays right both they're outside linebackers so the ball the 32-yard line the manning wants to go deep maybe get a pass interference goal deep enough to set up in the terry we'll see and that's what he will try to do and he will go deep and only blue shirts are there and the pass is incomplete and is still going to have one second remaining in regulation yeah that's where you're talking about the only blue shirts being there they're not going to let them catch anything in front of them they're going to run as deep as they have to to keep all white wide receiver jerseys in front of them phillips came back and tucker went back onto the field for a minute but now he's come back out so he'll be ready to go if they have to go on defense in overtime they probably put sean phillips back in there and they'll say just give me one more pass rush and it looks like the colts are going to kneel down you don't need a password they will with one second heads or tails meanwhile the rules for overtime and postseason different because you play until there is a resolution period first team to score wins you have 15 minute periods this is like you're starting a complete new game each team with three timeouts per half as it is during a regular game but the only difference is no challenges all reviews in overtime now come from the booth so you would have a first quarter you would change engine the field you'd have a second quarter you would in theory have a half time who knows if you have the marching bands or not and we will just play until there's a winner now this is one that maybe the players aren't all sure of these rules like you know you try and go over everything in playoffs and everything that's different and you know their pay and how much they get for playing these games and what the rules are what it means and the winners goes on losers goes home and so on and okay man maybe you don't mention the rules over time in a playoff situation is the starting of a new game each team will be allowed three timeouts if there is no score in the first quarter we'll begin the second quarter after a two-minute intermission all replays will be handled by the replay booth indianapolis it's your choice be called heads it is the tails so it's the san diego offense and the indianapolis defense when we come back overtime in the playoffs back after these messages from your nbc station high drama in san diego 25th overtime game in the history of the nfl the first was 50 years ago the giant colt game at yankee stadium home teams 12 and 12 first to score wins [Applause] polk offense has to buy at its time as san diego will get the ball sproles standing on the goal line ready to receive the adam finiter and here we go good kick scales is going to run it out from five yards in out past the 50 with 20 and taken down in the 25 yard line the tackle made by kiwan ratliff [Applause] now here's the time you know i was talking about philip rivers and i thought he was great on that last drive being calm staying calm and sometimes you get into overtime and you're trying to hurry up too much i mean now you know like the referee one winner this is the start of a new game you're starting and you you kind of have to act that way too rivers 18 of 32 for 196 yards scrolls has rushed from 82. gates sets up in the slot to the left chambers wide right scrolls the running back they start with darren on the ground and rahim brock is right there trying to go underneath him and couldn't it'll be second down and 11 after a loss of one that was the thing they had bob sanders up there and the you know that eight man in the box and he's not going to let you cut back and when he's in there you don't always want to cut back but see he becomes the eighth man up there now the chargers know that he's up there and they know how effective he is so they block them they pull their tackle marcus mcneil to block the safety vincent jackson wide ride he was their second leading receiver this year he did not catch a pass in regulation rivers rolling out and rivers has to throw it at the feet of sproles circling around was dwight freiny chasing him down from behind setting up a third down and 11. yeah and that clock in his head worked this time in the in the last game dwight freeny came on a play like this and rivers went like this and freeing free stripped him and any fumble right about this position on the field this time i know when i start doing this i know that there's going to be someone there and you say why hasn't vincent jackson could have eaten them because they're playing them short with a bump and then having the safety over the top they are not going to let him get beat gates leading receiver tonight with seven catches rivers dumps it off to the left side caught by scrolls spro spinning picks up the first down before freddie keajo can make the tackle boy is this guy something in every area i mean in running the ball we've seen him block tonight we've seen a punt return kickoff return catch the ball he'll catch it short and make yardage like that he's just he's just quicker and faster than anyone else in the field you know we know that the colts have very good tacklers and a very fast quick defense aaron scrolls just runs right by him michael bennett now comes in he's the running back they give it to him they can discharge your debut and bennett with a decent run to the 43 behind jacob hester combined yardage tonight rushing receiving and running back kicks sproles has gained 303 yards make it 304 add one more remember that unbelievable game at i do yeah i'll bet you do keith lincoln a former charger and now you've got scrolls and part of the podilac numbers came in in overtime that was the longest game in nfl history into double overtime christmas 1971 second down and four from the 43-yard line flag is thrown and they got scrolls going nowhere tackled by hagler and rivers indicating it's going to be against indianapolis normally flag comes in from that direction it's a hole on the offense this time eric foster rookie defensive tackle from rutgers and again everyone is playing those screen passes and playing you know guys trying to pull watch it watch the center here now he's he's trying to get out hardwick and he just grabs him right there he not only grabs him he spins him around watch him grab him there you see he has his left hand in there on nick hardwick and he just he just kept him going into dawson yeah right well the wrong number should be against dawson not on foster at the 48 right now the first half for san diego two and a half minutes into overtime tomlinson hasn't played since early in the second quarter done for the night peyton manning anxiously awaiting to try and get another chance and as tony dungeon says if you lose the snap your defense has to play well scrolls he'll take it to midfield picks up a couple clint session makes the tackle gain of two second and eight of the what 50. doing is they're bringing that that safety bob sanders every first down and the chargers you know are running into it and and they're getting a body on sanders so so they are they are gaining a few yards but it's tough and then then they go on second down and third down and they go back to the cover two and play the safeties deep do they play the safety up on first down and then back them off on second down second at eight rivers over the middle that's caught and fighting for the first down is gates and then the ball did it come loose antonio gates it came loose but he is able to come up with it he recovers buffet makes the tackle and that should be enough for a first down yeah buffet played that well because that was a defense set up for that they bring buffet up you see him right there and he's going to take any crossing thing or any short thing in the middle and that guy was gates and he he lost it he fumbles and he winds up as antoine buffet dislodged it coming up with the ball as he's able to cradle it to his side first and ten at the 42-yard line fake disclosed lookout and rivers is going to throw and rivers is going to get away with what the colts would feel with the intentional grounding mathis came in and winter is right there to say there was the receiver [Applause] and you're just going to see mathis come from this side right here and you say well why does he he get there that quickly because no one blocked him i mean how can you get in this situation block your tackle down and not black mathis i don't know unanswerable i mean i know two things you better get mathis on this side and you better get freebie on that side second and ten here's scrolls and scholes is going to take it to the 40-yard line reed makes the tackle now you're you're in a situation again if you don't gain a yard here i don't know how you let kaden come out and attempt a 57 yard field goal that's his career long because the downside [Applause] so insidious it means you give indianapolis the ball at about the 47. right in indianapolis means peyton manning and you don't want to give him any field position at all i don't i don't think if you don't if you don't get something here i don't think you can afford to kick the field or try it third and eight rivers and there's a flag thrown and there's all kinds of contact chris chambers spinning like a top and tim jennings was there and jennings contacted him and that draws the flag prior to the pass holding defense number 23 and a first down oh so then that's not pass interference that's just going to be five yards and a first down because they're saying tim jennings right here held and that that means before the ball was in the air so there's a hold right there now if the ball's not in the air it's just defensive holding five yard penalty and a first down if the ball were in the air and he did that that would be pass interference so they move it five yards to the 35 it's a first and ten the second first down via penalty on this drive for san diego [Applause] scrolls runs right into second and another flag comes in as we said this crew leads the league in penalties and penalty yardage personal foul nice match that's clint sessions and that moves him well within catings range as you see sproles getting down there there's clint sessions number 55 there's the face mask right there right yeah he did he did have the face mask and he did twist it because that's either a 15-yard penalty now or no penalty right that's exactly right last year you could say it was the garden variety now it's not so not clearly in canaan's range chargers are asking the crowd for a little quiet here so they can hear the signals it's first down at the 20-yard line you have a situation here do you just set up for a field goal or do you take a shot to the end zone first scrolls only loses a couple of yards some of the charger fans right now must be thinking about sweet justice ad hockey league in week two i mean that set up a season where they only were able to at the very end get into the playoffs and now and not that we're going to argue with any of these calls but the officials have been so important on this drive with three first downs by penalty right and when you get ron winner as a referee you kind of expect that that's going to happen and even tony dungy said it last night we're gonna have a lot of flags nine against the colts for 74 yards the colts are not a blitzing team but i think they have to now they're scrolls scrolls inside the 10. inside the five and the chargers win the game oh 328 combined yards for the 5-6 181 pound sproles jacob hester gets just of enough block there to get to get sproles to the outside what a player he is i mean he's a tonight he's been a workhorse he's an every down back and if anyone had any questions about darren sproles you can't have them anymore the san diego chargers have just won a trip to either nashville or pittsburgh on they go to the next round [Music] final score in overtime san diego 23 indianapolis 17 the wendy's post game report up next [Music]

Channel: Sports !

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Id: Qvnk10v7x7g

Length: 153min 14sec (9194 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 22 2022