Colts fall to Lions in season opener, 39-35

The Indianapolis Colts overcame a brutal start to the season opener to take a late lead against the Detroit Lions, but a 30-second drive by the visitors led to a late field goal and the win.

Clock management can be a tricky thing. It certainly go the better of Chuck Pagano on Sunday afternoon. Trailing by six, the Colts burned a timeout inside their opponents 20 as the clock was ticking close to one minutes.

That stopped the clock and the Colts eventually scored with 37-seconds left to play. The Lions hardly needed all that time to get Matt Prater into field goal range for the game winner.

This was the same Colts defensive secondary that was decimated by injuries and gave up big plays all afternoon. Pagano used a timeout to get his offense together and it paid off, but at the expense of the defense.

And unfortunately for Andrew Luck and the offense, their efforts were fruitless. Especially frustrating considering Luck might have played his best game as a professional this afternoon. Given the absolute need to score over 30 points and the hole early play calling had put them in, it was an impressive performance.

Luck completed 31-of-47 attempts for 385 yards and four touchdowns. T.Y Hilton hauled in six passes for 79 yards while Donte Moncrief had six of his own for 64 yards and a touchdown. Phillip Dorsett picked up the most yards with 94 yards on four catches.

The sleeper fantasy pick of the day was tight end Jack Doyle who had just three receptions for 35 yards but a pair of touchdowns.

Dwayne Allen was the fourth recipient of Luck’s touchdown spree today, he had four receptions for 53 yards.

The less said about the Colts defense today the better. Injuries ripped apart the secondary before our eyes and the Lions were able to pick up yards in bunches. They rarely if ever brought pressure against Matt Stafford and couldn’t tackle the ball carrier, regardless of who it was.

Up next the Colts head out west to face the Denver Broncos.