INDIANAPOLIS –
Boom Herron's two-yard touchdown runThe scene: Tied at zero with 14:53 to play in the first quarter, the Colts took over at their own 29-yard line.The anatomy of the drive: 9 plays for 74 yards in 4:26.Key play: After weeks of going back and forth between deferring the opening kickoff and taking the ball to start, the Colts wanted the first crack at it on Sunday. Boom Herron was the star of this opening series but the one third down faced saw Dwayne Allen get back in the mix. With a third-and-seven at the Bengals 10-yard line, there was Allen settled into the middle of the field, displaying a frame that has excelled in the red zone this year. Red zone offense has plagued the Colts this season but Allen's eight-yard conversion kept things going for…The score: Following Allen's conversion it was back to Herron, the hero of the drive. Herron punched it in from two yards out to give himself 58 of the Colts 71 yards on the opening drive. A paving block from right guard Lance Louis allowed Herron to score. Whether it was a 28-yard run midway through the drive, or the two early catches for 26 yards, Herron was the main threat throughout the opening series. With Trent Richardson dealing with an illness and hardly seeing any action, Herron carried the load all afternoon on Sunday. Herron's 141 total yards were the most the Colts have had from a running back in three seasons.**
Donte Moncrief's 36-yard touchdown catch from Andrew LuckThe scene:Leading 13-10 with 9:54 to play in the third quarter, the Colts took over at their own 39-yard line.The anatomy of the drive:6 plays for 61 yards in 2:06.Key play:The key play on this drive takes us over to the other side of the ball. With just a three-point lead at halftime, the Colts were going to have to count on their defense early in the third quarter. The unit delivered with back-to-back three-and-outs that gave the Colts some nice field position at the Indy 39-yard line. It was quite the defensive performance on Sunday for the Colts, allowing 139 yards in 43 plays over the final three quarters.The score:** This one will find its way on the Andrew Luck highlight reel. The play should not have been allowed to extend past his initial progressions, which didn't include Donte Moncrief. As Luck steps up in the pocket, 280-pound Carlos Dunlap is all over the quarterback's left leg. Luck hangs in there though and delivers a strike to Moncrief. An incompletion here and the Colts would have faced a third-and-10 on the edge of field goal range. Instead, a touchdown gave the Colts a 10-point cushion, which was more than enough with how the defense was playing on Sunday.
