Colts Give Seahawks The Boot
Cary Blanchard just wanted a chance to redeem himself.
Haunted by a missed extra point only minutes earlier, Blanchard kicked a 50-yard field goal as time ran out Saturday night, lifting the Indianapolis Colts to a 15-13 exhibition victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
“It was awesome. I knew it was good from the time it left my foot,” Blanchard said of the game-winner.
“After I missed that extra point, I didn’t care if was a 55-yarder. I wanted to make it up.”
Seattle (2-1) took a 13-12 lead with 44 seconds to go on Todd Peterson’s 47-yard field goal, but Craig Erickson drove the Colts 43 yards in the closing seconds. A short scramble by Erickson, who relieved injured Kerwin Bell early in the fourth quarter, brought the Colts to the Seattle 33 with 4 seconds left.
Blanchard, who also had a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter and a 20-yarder early in the fourth, then gave Indianapolis (2-2) the victory.
“It’s nice to get them in the preseason, the long ones,” Blanchard said, “just to see what I can do. I didn’t expect to miss an extra point just to get a pressure kick, though.
Peterson, who earlier kicked a field goal of 28 yards and missed a 24-yarder, put Seattle ahead after a pass interference penalty nullified an interception by Colts rookie Richard Jones. Stan Gelbaugh, the third Seattle quarterback, then passed 14 yards to Ronnie Williams to set up Peterson’s second field goal.
“Of course I want to win, but at the same time, that’s what he gets paid to do,” Peterson said. “Cary’s done well here… . He did his job. That’s why he plays in the NFL.”
The 28-yard field goal by Peterson and the 40-yarder by Blanchard on the game’s first two possessions were the only scores of the first half as penalties and mistakes halted every other threat.
Indianapolis moved 47 yards to the Seattle 18 midway through the second quarter before Marshall Faulk fumbled.
On the next series, a pair of passes to running back Chris Warren, playing for the first time in the exhibition season, helped the Seahawks to the Indianapolis 32, but a personal foul took them back to the 47 and three plays later they had to punt.
“It was a very good game that went right down to the end,” Seattle coach Dennis Erickson said. “The kickers got it when it counted. It was a fun game to watch but not so much fun to coach.”