Manning's Costly Interceptions Make San Diego's Night Easy In 36-14 Victory Over Colts

The Indianapolis Colts hosted the San Diego Chargers on Sunday Night Football and laid an absolute egg as they were blown out 36-14 thanks to four -- yes, four! -- Peyton Manning interceptions. The Colts haven't looked this bad in quite some time -- NBC says they haven't trailed by 25 in the fourth quarter since 2002 -- and SB Nation's Stampede Blue agrees.

Stampede Blue says there's not a whole lot of blame to go around here. This one's on Manning.

Tonight, you can, without question, pin the loss on Peyton Manning. Sure, his offensive line is terrible. His running backs aren't consistent. But, Manning had four INTs, including two returned for touchdowns. In fact, the Chargers had just as many touchdowns ON DEFENSE than they did on offense.

Brad Wells of Stampede Blue says this this is a "bad 6-5 team" and they are not a playoff team. It's been seven years since we've heard something like that from Colts fans. In fact, Indy hasn't lost more than four games in the regular season in seven years.

Check out Stampede Blue for more on the Chargers vs. Colts game.

The Colts finished 10-6 in 2002 and haven’t lost that many games in a regular season since. After Sunday night’s 36-14 loss to San Diego, they now sit at 6-5 and face the serious threat of matching that mark just a year removed from the Super Bowl.

The San Diego defense intercepted Peyton Manning four times, returning two picks for touchdowns, and the Chargers scored 20 total points off turnovers Sunday in a 36-14 victory over the Colts.

Philip Rivers threw for 185 yards without a mistake and Mike Tolbert rushed 26 times for 103 yards and a touchdown as the Chargers (6-5) won for the fifth time in their last six meetings with Indianapolis.

Indy blog Stampede Blue says they haven’t seen the Colts look this bad in primetime in years. However, they’re beginning to suspect that their early-suspicions are true and Peyton Manning is playing through some kind of injury.

Peyton will get this loss pinned on him, and he’ll carry that as he carries this entire franchise on his broad shoulders. But, as we have reported on since Week One earlier this year, it seems Peyton is playing hurt. We reported on (we think) a strong rumor back in September that Peyton had injured his neck and it was affecting his throwing shoulder. Well, last night, Manning played most of the game with a protective sleeve on his throwing arm. In previous games, that sleeve was on his non-throwing arm. Can’t confirm if the sleeve is related to the rumor we believe is true, but Peyton Manning has thrown seven INTs in two games recently. He does not look healthy, and now that he is wearing a protective sleeve, it’s possible it is related to the rumor.

Keep an eye on Stampede Blue and Charger blog Bolts From The Blue for more post-game discussion.

Considering they’ve scored 33 points on the night, it’s nice of the San Diego offense to get in on some of that scoring.

Before the fourth quarter all of San Diego’s points came from field goals and interceptions returns. Finally, the offense got on the board.

Running back Mike Tolbert scored on a three-yard run, giving San Diego a 33-14 lead over Indianapolis with 11:26 to go. San Diego went on a 10-play, 61-yard drive in 6:01, culminating with Tolbert’s 3-yard plunge.

They followed that up by recovering a fumble and converting that into one of their patented field goals to extend the lead to 36-14. Hope you had Nate Kaeding on your fantasy team this week.

Just as the Chargers seemed to show they couldn't put the game away by failing in the red zone by failing on three plays from the Colts' three-yard line and settling for the team's fourth field goal of the game, the defense came up with its second touchdown of the game. Which gives it two more touchdowns than the offense.

The Chargers got their second interception return for a touchdown of the game and third interception overall of Peyton Manning. However, this last one seems like it might have been a little less within the rules than the previous two. Chargers safety Eric Weddle pulled down Colts receiver Reggie Wayne, but wasn't flagged for the move.

Instead, Weddle intercepted Manning's throw and bounded into the end zone to push a uncertain 19-14 Chargers' lead to a more commanding 26-14 margin. By any standard, that's a huge break for San Diego.

The Colts offense might have been largely ineffective in the first half after its opening scoring drive, but Peyton Manning always seems to find a way to sneak a score in the final minutes before a half ends.

Such was the case when settling for less than a touchdown could have posed huge problems for the Colts. Trailing 16-7, Manning hit tight end Jacob Tamme and Pierre Garcon each for 30-yard gains to set up the Colts' second touchdown, which went to Blair White with less than 30 seconds left in the first half.

Since Mike Tolbert left the game late in the first half due to an injury, the Colts have had a much easier time stymieing the Chargers' attack. That could spell big trouble for the Chargers in the second half unless the defense can force more costly turnovers out of Peyton Manning. Not that Philip Rivers isn't able to produce without a running game, but it will make matters more difficult, especially with returning star wide receiver Vincent Jackson also leaving the game prematurely because of a calf injury.

The Chargers, more than most, are just able to force mistakes out of Peyton Manning. Though Manning did throw three interceptions last week in Foxborough, it's not often he will post consecutive multi-interception games.

Though that's what has happened on Sunday night at home against San Diego, a team known for rattling Manning. Peyton once threw a career-high six interceptions in a game against them in 2007. Through the first few minutes of the second quarter, Manning already has two.

The first was returned for a touchdown by linebacker Kevin Burnett. He joins cornerback Ty Law as one of two players to have returned Manning interceptions twice for touchdowns.

On the subsequent drive, the Colts drove to midfield, but on a 3rd and four pass intended for Reggie Wayne, the ball was deflected into the hands of linebacker Stephen Cooper. The Chargers parlayed that turnover into another three points to jump out to an early second quarter lead of 13-7.

Despite the Chargers coming in with the NFL's top-ranked defense in terms of least yardage allowed, few would have figured the Sunday night game between San Diego and Indianapolis would be a low-scoring grind-'em-out affair. Should the rest of the game play out like the first 11 minutes, there should be no lack of points.

On the game's first drive, Indianapolis exploited a series of dumpoff passes to Donald Brown to pick up huge yardage. That 12-play, 78-yard drive was capped by a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jacob Tamme.

The Chargers countered with a mostly impressive opening drive of their own. A Darren Sproles kick return was extended by penalty thanks to a face mask penalty on Phillip Wheeler. San Diego gained another 45 yards on 10 plays, but the Chargers' drive stalled after setting up a 2nd and 2 from the Colts' 10. After a stuffed run from Mike Tolbert, Philip Rivers tried a fade route to Malcom Floyd, but it was incomplete and San Diego had to settle for a Nate Kaeding field goal.