NFL Game Summary - Indianapolis at Buffalo
(Sunday, January 3rd)
Final Score: Buffalo 30, Indianapolis 7
Orchard Park, NY (Sports Network) - Ryan Fitzpatrick tossed three touchdown
passes as the Buffalo Bills dominated the Indianapolis Colts, 30-7, in the
regular season finale at a snowy Ralph Wilson Stadium.
Fitzpatrick finished the game 16-for-25 with 155 yards and tossed scores to
Terrell Owens, Lee Evans and Fred Jackson for the Bills (6-10), who snapped a
two-game losing streak to close out the season on a winning note.
Jackson finished the game with a career-high 212 yards on 33 carries while
Rian Lindell hit three field goals for Buffalo, which snapped a six-game
losing streak against Indianapolis.
Owens had four catches for 65 yards and now has 14,951 receiving yards for his
career, which moved him into third place all-time in the NFL past Tim Brown.
"I think this game says a lot about us and our character," said Buffalo head
coach Perry Fewell. "We could have given up a long time ago but we didn't. We
kept fighting until the very end. We wanted to go out and win the game today
and we did."
Peyton Manning played three series and led the Colts (14-2) to their only
score of the game on 14-of-18 passing for 95 yards. He was again pulled early
from the contest for Curtis Painter, who went 4-for-17 with 39 yards, one
interception and one fumble lost.
Manning and many other starters were pulled in the third quarter of last
week's game against the Jets with his team holding a 15-10 lead, only to watch
on the sideline as New York scored the next 19 points to end Indianapolis'
perfect season and snap an NFL-record 23-game winning streak.
"With the bye week coming up it was important to play some," said Manning.
"Obviously the weather conditions weren't ideal and we knew we weren't going
to play the whole game, but there was no set amount of time that we were going
to play."
However, despite losses in the last two weeks of the season, the Colts have
the best record in the NFL and will have a bye for the first week of
the playoffs.
"My intent was to make sure that we looked sharp," said Indianapolis head
coach Jim Caldwell. "We did not have a good drive to start, but then came back
with a good drive. We will not look at this film, but will look forward and
focus on getting ourselves ready for our next game."
Manning was picked off by Cary Harris on the Colts' first drive and it set up
an 11-yard catch in the end zone by Jackson to give Buffalo a 7-0 lead with
9:25 left in the first.
Manning, though, responded with a 12-play drive that covered 72 yards and was
capped on a one-yard run into the end zone by Mike Hart to tie the game with
under four minutes to play in the first.
Buffalo took a 14-7 lead with just over five minutes to play in the first half
when Evans' 21-yard touchdown reception capped a five-play, 51-yard drive.
Painter fumbled the ball on Indianapolis' ensuing possession and two plays
later, Owens hauled in a pass for a 41-yard touchdown to give Buffalo a 21-7
lead.
Harris nabbed his second interception of the game on Painter's first pass of
the next drive and it led to a 31-yard field goal by Lindell for a 24-7 lead
going into the break.
Lindell's 33-yard field goal on Buffalo's first touch of the third gave the
team a 27-7 lead with 7 1/2 minutes to play in the third.
Lindell added a 36-yard field goal late in the third quarter to make it a 30-7
contest.
Game Notes
The Colts had won 11 straight on the road coming into the game...Buffalo
finished its season 3-5 at home...Evans finished the game with four catches
for 49 yards...The Colts totaled just 157 yards in offense.
01/03 19:20:21 ET

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