No Place Like Dome

Time after time, the Cincinnati Bengals futilely tried to pressure Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.

Pressure was the manifest undercurrent of Sunday’s wild-card playoff game here in Middle America. Much was on the line. Reputations, perhaps even football legacies, were at stake.

Could the Bengals and their quarterback Andy Dalton finally win a postseason game, or would they exit in the first round for a fourth successive year? Could Luck, once again asked to carry the Colts on his back, take another step toward fulfilling his promise as the league’s next anointed superstar?

Roughly midway through the third quarter, the answers were coming into shape, with Luck unruffled in the passing pocket and Dalton in a familiar postseason mode — on the run and harried.

But the Bengals still trailed by only 3 points, so they decided to rattle Luck anew with a ferocious blitz. Luck ducked and scrambled to his right as defensive end Carlos Dunlap pawed at his ankles. Teetering and about to crash to the turf, Luck lofted a stunningly precise 36-yard pass — just beyond the leaping grasp of a Cincinnati defender and into the arms of wide receiver Donte Moncrief in the corner of the end zone.

It was one of only several stellar moments for Luck on Sunday, but it epitomized how the best player on the field handled the pressure of a big moment in a 26-10 Colts victory.

“The pass to Moncrief was magical,” Colts Coach Chuck Pagano said. “That was Andrew at his finest. He’s a maestro out there. In that play, you can see his unbelievable physical and mental skills at once.”

Afterward in the locker room, however, Luck’s teammates were not shaking their heads in awe.

They had seen it all before.

“We run that play in practice and whatever spot I run to, even if he’s being chased or has someone in his face, he puts it out where I can catch it,” Moncrief said. “On any pass play with him, you have to stay ready, because the ball might come out of his hand heading for you.”

Tight end Dwayne Allen said that with Luck, “the spectacular is normal.”

“We see it every day,” he said. “We’re used to it.”

For Luck, who completed 31 of 44 passes for 376 yards, the pressure now is to win his first road playoff game — against Peyton Manning, the quarterback whom he is most often compared with.

“Peyton is a stud,” Luck said Sunday. “But our offense faces the Broncos, not their quarterback. I don’t get into that whole quarterback thing.”

That whole quarterback thing will remain a gnawing issue in Cincinnati as Dalton’s winless playoff-game status extends with each postseason.

Dalton, who did not have an interception and completed 18 of 35 passes for only 155 yards, conceded afterward that he would be dogged by his lack of accomplishment after the regular season rather than his triumphs during it.

“I mean, it’s tough, but it is what it is,” said Dalton, who then uttered something like a Yogi Berra-ism: “Until we win one, everyone is going to be able to say we haven’t won it.”

The Bengals were emboldened by the late first-half score when they took possession to start the third quarter, but whatever momentum they had did not last long. The Colts forced them into a three-and-out, yielding just 3 yards.

“That stop was huge and kind of set the tempo for the whole second half,” Pagano said.

Cincinnati rarely seriously threatened after that, picking up just five first downs and gaining only 98 yards in the second half.

With some of the pressure off, it allowed the Colts to do what they had been doing earlier in the game, which was mix Luck’s downfield passing with short passes to running back Daniel Herron.

Herron, playing for the starter Trent Richardson, who missed the game with an undisclosed illness, led the Colts with 10 receptions for 85 yards.

Pagano said Richardson was expected back for the Broncos game next Sunday.

If either quarterback was feeling the pressure at the game’s start, it was not apparent in the opening minutes. On the first possession of the game, Luck completed three passes during a nine-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Herron. During that series, the Colts’ offensive line provided ample protection for Luck and opened holes for Herron. The efficiency of the Indianapolis line play came as a surprise, since the unit was depleted by recent injuries. But the line’s good start proved to be no fluke; Luck was sacked just once.

Dalton also had a good first quarter. In the Bengals’ second series, he was 3 of 4 passing, the last a twisting, acrobatic grab by the backup running back Rex Burkhead that gained 26 yards and moved Cincinnati to the Indianapolis 5-yard line. Two plays later, Jeremy Hill sliced through the slim opening in the line for a 1-yard touchdown that tied the game.

But Luck was still leading a resourceful, fast-paced offense that had Cincinnati guessing and out of breath. Luck scrambled for 18 yards to keep one drive alive, then on consecutive plays threw to T. Y. Hilton, who finished with 6 catches for 103 yards.

Those receptions led to a 38-yard field goal by Vinatieri. Later, Luck threw for 45 yards to Hakeem Nicks, leading to another Vinatieri field goal.

Not long after Sunday’s game, the Colts were being asked about their trip to Denver, where they lost to the Broncos in their first game of the regular season, 31-24.

“That seems like a lifetime ago,” Pagano said. “But we’re going to embrace the opportunity because it’s exciting and fun. And hopefully, we play just a little bit better than we did in Week 1.”