INDIANAPOLIS – Jubilation was in every corner of Lucas Oil Stadium.
The frolicking though wasn't too abundant around the starting defense of the Indianapolis Colts.
T.Y. Hilton was dancing in the end zone and the Colts had the lead with 1:17 remaining on Sunday.
In a baseball reference, it was now the ninth inning for the Indy defense and the door to the bullpen was about to be opened.
Time. To. Close.
"We knew we had to go out there with a minute left," safety Mike Adams said of the defense having to tie the bow to Sunday's 26-22 victory.
"We wanted it on our shoulders again because of what happened when we played Detroit. I can't lie and say that wasn't in the back of our heads. This is what we asked for us. We are going to close the deal."
A deafening Lucas Oil Stadium was going to do its part, too.
After the Chargers gained four yards on first down, rookie tight end Hunter Henry was whistled for a false start.
Now, it was 2nd-and-11. The Chargers still had to go 76 yards in 1:11, with two timeouts in their pocket.
In Weeks One and Two, the play to win the game wasn't made by a player wearing blue and white.
It was on Sunday.
Lined up opposite Henry, safety/linebacker Clayton Geathers got beat on a whip route.
As Henry turned up field for some run after catch, Geathers thought one thing: go get that ball.
"Go for the punch," Geathers thought to himself. "Go for the punch.
"My head was like 'make a play,' so I just went for the strip. He wasn't expecting it, so it worked out in our favor."
Coming from behind, Geathers popped the pigskin right out of Henry's right arm.
Onto the ground the ball pounced and Mike Adams dove on it for win No. 1.
"From my back view," Adams said, "I saw (Geathers) coming from behind so I didn't want to go down and make the tackle. I didn't want to collide with Clayton and we miss the tackle.
"So I just let him do his thing and I pounced on the ball."
Against Detroit, the defense walked off the field knowing they missed an opportunity to close.
Then in a trip to Denver, it was the offense wondering what if.
No such feelings, for either unit, were present on this Sunday.
"I'm going to be honest, we needed this," Adams said of the team's first win.
"Now we need that snowball effect. Now, we want to keep the ball rolling."
