Associated Press
Peyton Manning has his MVP award and nothing more, outdone again in January by the San Diego Chargers.
Speedy little Darren Sproles scooted 22 yards for the winning score 6:20 into overtime and the Chargers beat the Colts 23-17 in an AFC wild-card game Saturday night, ending Indianapolis' nine-game winning streak a day after Manning won his third Associated Press NFL MVP award.
Sproles came up big on a night when the Chargers played the final 2 1/2 quarters without LaDainian Tomlinson, who stood on the sideline in obvious discomfort from what appears to be a serious groin injury.
Fifty years after the Baltimore Colts won the first overtime game in league history by the same score over the New York Giants for the NFL title, Indianapolis wasn't so fortunate. It was victimized by Sproles, who rushed 23 times for 105 yards, caught five passes for 45 yards, had 106 yards on four kickoff returns and 72 on three punt runbacks.
"It's disappointing to lose a playoff game," Manning said. "We certainly had some chances to win, but give them credit. We had chances to put the game away, but we just didn't do it."
The Chargers (9-8) won the overtime toss. Indy's Darrell Reid called heads, but referee Ron Winter's flip came up tails. Sproles sent the Chargers into the second round of the playoffs, either at Tennessee or Pittsburgh, by finishing off the only series of overtime with his TD run around left end against an exhausted defense for the Colts (12-5).
It was San Diego's fifth straight win; the Chargers needed the previous four victories to secure the AFC West title with an 8-8 record. San Diego was the ninth team to enter the playoffs with an 8-8 record and became just the third to win its opener. The Chargers had gone 0-5 against teams that made the playoffs, including a 23-20 loss to the Colts on Nov. 23.
This was the fourth time the teams met in two seasons and the sixth time in five years. The Chargers have won four of the six.
The teams traded TDs early, with Indy's Joseph Addai scoring on a 1-yard run late in the first quarter and Tomlinson scoring on a 3-yard run early in the second quarter, his last play of the game. The Colts went ahead 10-7 on Adam Vinatieri's 43-yard field goal midway through the second period before Sproles' 9-yard run just before halftime put the Chargers ahead 14-10.
Manning was 25-of-42 for 310 yards. Rivers was 20-of-36 for 216 yards, with one interception.
"From the first run, it was evident that I just didn't have the burst," said Tomlinson, who gained 14 yards on the game's first play from scrimmage. "I couldn't put my foot on the ground and get through the hole the way I wanted to. I went as long as I could. After the TD run, it was at the point where I felt like I was making it worse."
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