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- Mar 19, 2019
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» CLOSE IT OUT: Despite a terrific first two quarters, the Colts knew the Falcons (1-2) weren’t going to go away quietly. Atlanta scored two straight touchdowns — both passing plays from quarterback Matt Ryan to tight end Austin Hooper — to get to within three, 20-17, early in the fourth quarter, and then responded to a Marlon Mack touchdown run midway through the fourth with an impressive 10-yard touchdown catch from Julio Jones to once again cut the Indy lead to three, 27-24, with 4:11 remaining. But after not being able to close the game out on offense in their eventual win last Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, the Colts were able to get the job done this time around against the Falcons, as Brissett led a drive that featured three first downs and drained Atlanta of all three of its timeouts. The crucial play was a 3rd-and-4 from the Atlanta 27 with just less than two minutes remaining, as Brissett pulled the ball out of the stomach of Mack and found Jack Doyle wide open; the tight end slid down at the 16, and two kneels later Indy had its second win of the year. “We debated run, run-pass,” Reich said of that 3rd-and-4 play. “So we had a little run-pass check thing going on in there. So (I) just really wanted to be aggressive and end with the ball in our hand.”
» INJURIES STACK UP: Both teams on Sunday had to deal with their fair share of injuries, as key players seemed to be going down every few plays. The most unfortunate injury for the Falcons was suffered by safety Keanu Neal, who was carted off with an Achilles injury late in the second quarter. For the Colts, cornerback Kenny Moore II (forearm), defensive tackle/end Denico Autry (eye), defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad (stinger) each missed time but eventually returned, while wide receiver T.Y. Hilton (quad) and defensive tackle/end Tyquan Lewis (ankle) did not return to the ballgame after suffering their respective injuries. Safety Malik Hooker, meanwhile, was not out on the field for several plays in the second half, but Reich said that was planned as part of the rotation at safety. Reich is scheduled to hold his weekly conference call with reporters today at 4 p.m. so we’ll see if he has any updates on the statuses of Hilton, Lewis or anyone else dinged up from yesterday’s game.
» BACK ON TRACK: Reich never wavered in his support of kicker Adam Vinatieri, even as the future Hall of Famer had perhaps the worst two-game stretch of his career to begin the season. And on Sunday, Vinatieri got right back on track by hitting all five of his kicks on the afternoon — two field goals and three extra-point tries. The 24-year veteran Vinatieri’s day got off to an interesting start, when his first field goal attempt from 49 yards out hit off the left upright, but then ricocheted back through for three points. It was all smooth sailing from there. “Right, wrong or indifferent, you probably put a little extra pressure on yourself coming off the week that we did before,” Vinatieri said. “So you try not to think about it and just go out there and focus in on the kick and do your job.”
» NOTES OF INTEREST:
— The Colts on Sunday had their first home-opener victory since 9/8/13 against Oakland, when the Colts won 21-17.
— Running back Marlon Mack eclipsed 1,500 career rushing yards on his second carry of the game. He became the fourth player in franchise history to reach 1,500 yards before turning 24 years old, joining Alan Ameche (1995-56), Marshall Faulk (1994-96) and Edgerrin James (1999-2001).
— See more stats and notes from Sunday’s game by clicking here.