Indianapolis Colts vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Match Player Stats On Oct 03, 2011

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 3, 2011

LeGarrette Blount's 35-yard touchdown run with 3:15 remaining in the fourth quarter snapped a tie and lifted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 24-17 victory over the visiting Indianapolis Colts in their first Monday Night Football home game in eight years.

Josh Freeman ran for one score and threw for another for Tampa Bay, which never led until Blount completed a six-play, 60-yard drive with his third touchdown of the season. Blount finished with 127 yards on 25 carries.

Making his first career start, Indianapolis' Curtis Painter completed 13 of 30 passes for 281 yards and a pair of long touchdown passes to Pierre Garcon.

With the injured Peyton Manning watching from a luxury box, Painter got the call as Kerry Collins was inactive with a concussion.

Tampa Bay held the ball for 39 minutes to win its third straight game and send the Colts to their first 0-4 start since Manning’s rookie season in 1998.

The Colts took a 10-0 lead with less than nine minutes left in the second quarter as Garcon hauled in a pass from Painter, broke a tackle at the Indianapolis 40 and scampered 87 yards down the right sideline.

Tampa Bay (3-1) rallied to forge a tie, but Painter and Garcon hooked up on a 59-yard scoring play to give the Colts a 17-10 advantage. The touchdowns were Garcon's only receptions of the night.

Freeman, who was 25 of 39 for 287 yards, connected with Preston Parker for a 13-yard TD in the waning seconds of the third to knot the game at 17.

Both teams missed a field-goal attempt, and the Buccaneers had another wiped out at the end of the first half for having 12 men on the field.

Tampa Bay also had a scoring play nullified in the opening quarter as Arrelious Benn was called for an illegal touch pass penalty after an apparent 62-yard TD reception.