After Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia, the Indianapolis Colts knew there was one thing they wanted to do. They wanted to give their coach a game ball after earning a win. They did that on Sunday, coming back from a 19 point deficit to beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Andrew Luck had his best game as a pro and Reggie Wayne had over 200 receiving yards as the Colts defeated the Packers 30-27.
"I'm sure we were all lying to everybody the whole week, trying to downplay it," Luck said to the Associated Press. "I think we all went out there wanting to do it for Chuck more than anything else. To see all the emotions on Mr. Irsay's face, (Bruce Arians'), everyone in there, I think it's one of the greatest athletic moments I've ever been a part of."
Luck had the best game of his young career, throwing for 362 yards and two touchdowns. He also added a rushing touchdown and completed 31-of-55 passes.
Wide receiver Reggie Wayne, who has known Pagano since he was at the University of Miami, had one of the best games of his career, catching 13 balls for 212 yards and a touchdown. He also made a fantastic one-handed catch in the second quarter (see below).
"I've got 12 years of (special) games," said Wayne. "But this did mean a lot, just with the whole deal with how the week's been going. You know, I talked to coach Pagano and he wanted us to win so bad. Is it a high? Yeah. I don't necessarily have one other than the Super Bowl game. But it's up there."
To honor his coach, Wayne wore special gloves for the game.
"I just wanted to do something, you know, for Chuck," Wayne said. "I had some equipment guys make some calls. If they (NFL officials) fine me, they fine me, I really feel like that would be a terrible thing to do, but if so, so be it, I'll go ahead and take the fine and do it for Chuck."
Pagano set the tone for the team earlier in the week, writing an emotional email to his players.
"Focus on being 500 by 4:30pm on Sunday. Nothing else," he wrote. "That has to be our mind set. 60 minutes, all you got, one play at a time! WIN!"
Indianapolis was down 21-3 at the end of the first half before making a furious comeback. Luck threw a touchdown pass to Dwayne Allen and helped set up a 50-yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri. Luck added a rushing touchdown to cut the lead to 21-19 and then Vinatieri gave the team a one point lead with another field goal.
The Packers responded with a touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to James Jones, but the Colts quickly responded, with Luck finding Wayne for a four-yard touchdown with only 35 seconds left to take a 30-27 lead.
"Chuck's instilled a lot in us," Wayne said. "His whole motto since day one, the first meeting has been team team, team, team. Nothing else. So we've wanted to do it every week as a team. That's all we practice, that's all we preach."
Packers kicker Mason Crosby attempted a 51-yard field goal to try to force overtime but missed his kick.
"I thought they (Colts) played well," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Obviously, a tough week for them. I thought they played with a lot of emotion, a lot of energy. Frankly, I'm more focused on my football team and my football team is not playing the way we are capable of playing."
According to ESPN.com, Andrew Luck is just the seventh rookie quarterback to beat a reigning NFL MVP in a regular season game.
The loss sent the Packers to 2-3 and leaves them in third place behind the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears in the NFC North.
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