Tennessee 3,
Indianapolis 35
Tennessee (3-8) at Indianapolis (11-0)
VIDEO PLAYLIST 
| SCOUTING REPORT | ||
Colts' passing attack has mismatchAfter the Colts' impressive "physical" win on Monday night against the Steelers, they now must turn their attention toward divisional rival Tennessee. As the Colts go for 12 in a row and position themselves for home-field advantage, they can ill afford to look past the struggling Titans. QB Peyton Manning and the high-powered Colts' offense will continue its no-huddle approach against a Titans defense that is ranked 15th.
Look for Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks to rely on his complex Cover 2 schemes and their physical four-man pressures to attack the Titans' offense and quarterback Steve McNair. For the Titans, head coach Jeff Fisher must find a way to contain the big three on offense in Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison. One of the biggest challenges the Titans' defense faces will be getting pressure on Manning. The Colts have started fast on offense over the last few weeks, and the Titans can't allow the big, explosive plays down the field. McNair and the Titans' offense must continue their positive momentum against a fast and aggressive Colts defense. Look for the Titans to try and keep the Colts' defense off-balance with some gadget plays off play action and some hurry-up no huddle in certain situations. | ||
· Full Scouting Report
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| Matchup | |||||||
| W-L | PF | PA | HOME | ROAD | DIV | CONF | |
| TEN | 4-12 | 299 | 421 | 3-5 | 1-7 | 2-4 | 3-9 |
| IND | 14-2 | 439 | 247 | 7-1 | 7-1 | 6-0 | 11-1 |
| · Complete Standings | |||||||
| TEAM AVERAGES & NFL RANKS | ||
| TEAM OFFENSE | TEAM | PER GAME AVERAGE |
| Total Yards | TEN | |
| IND | ||
| Yards Passing | TEN | |
| IND | ||
| Yards Rushing | TEN | |
| IND | ||
| TEAM DEFENSE | TEAM | PER GAME AVERAGE |
| Yards Allowed | TEN | |
| IND | ||
| Pass Yds Allowed | TEN | |
| IND | ||
| Rush Yds Allowed | TEN | |
| IND | ||
Tennessee (3-8) at Indianapolis (11-0) Sunday 1:00 pm EST
INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- It appears that the Indianapolis Colts are on the verge of becoming the fifth team in NFL history to get to 12-0. Unless the Tennessee Titans pull off a stunning upset.
The Colts have won the last five meetings between the AFC South rivals, including a 31-10 win at Tennessee on October 2. Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes, including a pair to Marvin Harrison, who had nine catches for 109 yards.
Working mostly underneath to his tight ends, Tennessee's Steve McNair completed 28-of-37 passes for 220 yards and one touchdown with an interception. Eighteen of his completions went to his tight ends - Ben Troupe, Erron Kinney and rookie Bo Scaife.
Ten teams in league history had a chance to improve to 12-0 and six failed. The four that reached a perfect dozen were the 1934 Chicago Bears, 1972 Miami Dolphins, 1985 Bears and 1998 Denver Broncos.
The only team to have a perfect season in NFL history was the 1972 Dolphins, who went 14-0 in the regular season and won all three postseason games.
The 1934 and 1942 Bears went 13-0 and 11-0, respectively, but lost the NFL championship game.
There were four unbeaten teams in NFL history which tied at least once - the 1929 Green Bay Packers (12-0-1), 1923 Canton Bulldogs (11-0-1), 1922 Bulldogs (10-0-2) and 1920 Akron Pros (8-0-3).
But all that unbeaten talk is not affecting Colts coach Tony Dungy.
"Right now, the only thing we're worrying about is winning our division," Dungy said. "We have a three-game lead (over Jacksonville) and that's what we're focused on now."
The Colts can clinch their fourth straight playoff berth with a win on Sunday or losses by Pittsburgh and Kansas City or losses by Pittsburgh and San Diego. They can also seal the division with a win, coupled with a loss by Jacksonville (8-3), which plays at Cleveland.
The Titans figure to have fits again with the Colts, who lead the NFL with 331 points and have allowed just 159. Only Chicago (120) has yielded fewer points.
Meanwhile, the Titans have allowed 284 points. Only Houston has given up more in the AFC.
In last December's meeting here, Titans coach Jeff Fisher had little confidence his team could stop the Colts, resorting to three onside kicks in the first quarter. The strategy seemed to work as Tennessee recovered two of the kicks.
"We felt like we had to do some things out of the ordinary in order to compete," Fisher said of his strategy.
But it was only a temporary solution. The Colts won the game, 51-24, as Manning threw for 425 yards and three scores.
Matching up against receivers Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Brandon Stokley and tight ends Dallas Clark and Bryan Fletcher will be quite a daunting challenge for rookie Adam "Pacman" Jones and fellow cornerbacks Renaldo Hill and Andre Woolfolk.
Last Monday, Manning, Harrison and Edgerrin James starred on offense, Mike Vanderjagt kicked four field goals and Indianapolis' defense limited Pittsburgh to 197 total yards and intercepted Ben Roethlisberger twice in a 26-7 win.
Manning got it started with an 80-yard touchdown pass to Harrison on Indianapolis' first play from scrimmage. It was the 91st career scoring connection for the NFL's most prolific duo and the longest one as well.
James was a consistent force throughout, rushing for 53 yards on 13 carries in the first half and 71 yards on 16 carries in the second half.
"People are going to start pushing this undefeated season on us but we just have to go one game at a time and go from there," said James, who leads the AFC with 1,240 rushing yards.
After hosting Tennessee, the Colts havethree straight games against teams with winning records - Jacksonville (8-3), San Diego (7-4) and Seattle (9-2) - before closing the regular season against Arizona (3-8).
The Titans snapped a five-game losing streak with a 33-22 win over San Francisco last week. McNair, who shared the NFL Most Valuable Player Award with Manning in 2003, threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns.
Matchup to watch: Wayne, who is second in the AFC with 64 receptions for 812 yards, faces Jones, the first defensive player selected in the 2005 draft.
Series: The Colts lead, 11-10.
Next week: Tennessee hosts Houston on December 11 Indianapolis visits Jacksonville on December 11
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- Vince Young: play me or let me go
- If the Titans don't want him to play, Vince Young is ready to move on. The No. 3 pick of the 2006 NFL Draft told a Baltimore television station Monday that he wanted to become the starting quarterback for the Titans - regaining the job he lost last season to Kerry Collins in dramatic fashion - or find another team.
- Quarterback steps out of bounds again
- Will Vince Young ever get it? Just when you believe the Titans' backup quarterback is beginning to absorb the big picture of what it takes to be an NFL quarterback, he gives you reason to doubt him.
- Titan sharpens focus after eye surgery
- Titans cornerback Nick Harper could blame his hands for not having more interceptions last season, but the bigger problem was his eyesight.
- McNair says he believes Young is maturing
- Steve McNair touched on a variety of subjects at his eighth annual football camp at Goodpasture Christian School on Friday.
- Nick Harper overcomes age, vision to stick in Titans' secondary
- Titans cornerback Nick Harper could blame his hands for not having more interceptions last season, but the bigger problem was his eyesight.
- Indianapolis Colts defense won't see wholesale changes
- The Indianapolis Colts brought in Larry Coyer to replace Ron Meeks as coordinator, not oversee an extensive renovation of the defense.
- Brackett: I'll be ready for Colts camp
- Gary Brackett anticipates being ready for the start of training camp as the Indianapolis Colts' veteran linebacker continues to recover from a broken right leg that forced him to miss the end of the 2008 season.
- Manning challenges youngsters to emerge as third receiver
- The Indianapolis Colts' roster lists nine receivers, so depth isn't a concern, though for the first time since 1995, the collection doesn't include Marvin Harrison. Proven depth is another matter entirely.
- Colts' Jackson, Hart recovering quickly
- Indianapolis Colts cornerback Marlin Jackson and running back Mike Hart labor on different sides of the ball, but they are recovering from similar injuries and chasing identical timetables.
- Brackett energized about Colts coaches
- Colts linebacker Gary Brackett honored Canterbury students Thursday for raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
NFL Scores
Sunday, December 4th 2005
| Green Bay | 7 | Final |
| Chicago | 19 |
| Jacksonville | 20 | Final |
| Cleveland | 14 |
| Minnesota | 21 | Final |
| Detroit | 16 |
| Tennessee | 3 | Final |
| Indianapolis | 35 |
| Buffalo | 23 | Final |
| Miami | 24 |
| Tampa Bay | 10 | Final |
| New Orleans | 3 |
| Dallas | 10 | Final |
| NY Giants | 17 |
| Cincinnati | 38 | Final |
| Pittsburgh | 31 |
| Atlanta | 6 | Final |
| Carolina | 24 |
| Houston | 15 | Final |
| Baltimore | 16 |
| Washington | 24 | Final |
| St. Louis | 9 |
| Arizona | 17 | Final |
| San Francisco | 10 |
| Denver | 27 | Final |
| Kansas City | 31 |
| NY Jets | 3 | Final |
| New England | 16 |
| Oakland | 10 | Final |
| San Diego | 34 |
Monday, December 5th 2005
| Seattle | 42 | Final |
| Philadelphia | 0 |