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Colts Clinch Playoff Birth

Last updated on Monday, December 24, 2012

(Indianapolis, IN) Andrew Luck engineered his seventh game winning touchdown drive of the season in leading the Indianapolis Colts over the Kansas City Chiefs, 20-to-13 and securing the top wildcard birth in the A-F-C Playoffs.

Luck also broke the single season record for most passing yards for a rookie with 205 against the Chiefs, breaking Cam Newton's one year old record by 132 yards.

The Colts defense was at least opportunistic on an afternoon where Kansas City running backs combined for 352 rushing yards. The first score of the day happened early in the first quarter when Darius Butler returned an intercepted pass by former Notre Dame All-American Brady Quinn 32 yards for a touchdown and an early 7-to-nothing lead for the Colts.

Quinn hit wideout Jon Baldwin for a 56 yard catch on the Chiefs next possession to set up Ryan Succop's 47 yard field goal to make it 7-to-3 Colts.

Luck was sacked twice on the Colts next drive and the Chiefs began steamrolling Indianapolis on the ground with a healthy rotation of running backs Jamal Charles and Peyton Hillis. Succop missed a 43 yard field goal attempt and the Colts ended the first quarter with the ball and a 7-to-3 lead.

Adam Vinatieri tacked on a 42 yard field goal to make it 10-to-3, but the Colts defense started reeling against a balanced Kansas City offense that included a 28 yard pass to Jamar Newsome and a first down on the Indianapolis 16 yard line.

The Colts notched their second takeaway of the game when Pat Angerer met Charles at the line of scrimmage and stripped him of the ball. Joe Lefeged recovered the fumble and Luck and the Colts offense were in business with a minute to play in the half. Luck found TY Hilton and Mwelde Moore on 23 and 32 yard completions and eventually yielded to Vinatieri's 36 yard field goal to give Indianapolis a 13-to-3 halftime lead.

Charles redeemed himself on the first play of the second half by taking a handoff around the left end for an 86 yard touchdown run to narrow the Colts lead to 13-to-10.

Indianapolis punted away after a three-and-out, and Charles added to his total with a 32 yard run on the Chiefs next possession. Quinn drove the ball down to the Colts 14 yard line when he was intercepted by Vontae Davis in the endzone for his second pick of the day.

The Colts punted again following another quick possession and Davis had his second pick of the afternoon negated when the corner was flagged for pass interference while making the interception. Succop later came on to make a 47 yard field goal to tie the game at 13-to-13 with six minutes to play in the third quarter.

Both defenses dug in until the Colts got the ball with ten minutes left in the game. Luck produced a 13 play, six minute drive that ended with Reggie Wayne catching a seven yard touchdown pass for the go ahead score. The Chiefs punted on their next possession and the Colts ran out the clock for a 20-to-13 win.

The Chiefs are 2-and-13 and host Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos next Sunday. The Colts are 10-and-5 and host the AFC South Champion Houston Texans in the regular season finale. Kickoff is at 1:00.

The Colts also received news that Head Coach Chuck Pagano will address the team at 10:00 this morning to officially announce his return to coaching after successfully completing his treatment for Leukemia.

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