GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Indianapolis Colts got the victory they needed to inch closer to evening their record at .500 when they beat the Packers in Green Bay for the first time since 1988 on Sunday.
Will the 31-26 victory spring some life back into the Colts, or will they come out of their bye and revert to their lackluster ways?
“It can’t be where all of a sudden we're inconsistent again,” linebacker D'Qwell Jackson said. “This is the time you start to make a push. We’ve had some tough losses, had some hard wins. Our wins haven’t been blowouts by any stretch of the imagination. These are the types of games we clearly want so we can make a run at the playoffs.”
The reality is the Colts have no choice but to build off the victory. How they played the first eight weeks of the season put them in their current position.
The Colts (4-5), who are two games behind Houston for first place in the AFC South, have their bye next weekend and then host the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 20 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“The win means we’re headed in the right direction now,” tight end Dwayne Allen said. “It’s going to be up to us in the locker room to do the right things over the bye in order for us to ensure that we stay in this direction. We beat a very good [Green Bay] team on the road, but it means nothing if we come back and fall back into our old ways, so to speak.”
The Colts know that’s a possibility. They haven’t won back-to-back games since Weeks 16 and 17 of last season, after making a habit of consistently winning during the first three years with Andrew Luck. Sunday was the first time all season that all three phases -- special teams, offense and defense -- played a significant role in a victory.
Jordan Todman had 180 yards on his two kickoff returns, including a 99-yarder for a touchdown to open the game. Running back Frank Gore said offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski had an aggressive attitude with the playcalling that had the Colts playing more freely.
Chudzinski called plays that had Luck running the read-option, Gore was lined up in the Wildcat on another play, and Chudzinski called a pass play on third-and-2 when the Colts were trying to use as much clock as possible on their final possession of the game.
The defense intercepted Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers once, and they did a fairly decent job of not letting him pick them apart through the air for three quarters.
“There have been games this season where the defense plays great, but the offense doesn’t make plays,” cornerback Darius Butler said. “Or games where the offense plays great, but we don’t, or special teams makes a bonehead play or something. But this game, Todman took it to the house on the first play. That kind of play on the road lets you take a deep breath and say, ‘let’s go,’ and all phases chipped in this week.”
A 4-5 record sounds a lot better than a 3-6 mark going into the bye. Instead of wondering if the Colts are going to continue sinking, they did just enough to get their most important victory of the season.
“Everybody knew exactly where we were and what the stakes were,” coach Chuck Pagano said. “It’s a whole different world today, right now, and tomorrow will be a whole different world. [A record of] 4-5 is way different than going back home being 3-6.”