Manning passes Unitas; Colts win with most bizarre stat ever

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning became the Colts all time leader in wins, passing Colts legend Johnny Unitas, with a 27-23 win at Land Shark Stadium last night. Manning now has 119 wins as a Colts QB. It's not the fact that Manning and the Colts got the win that's surprising, it was how they won.

I stated yesterday that if the Dolphins control time of possession and sucessfully run the ball, Miami would win. They did just that...except the winning part. The Dolphins had 239 yards rushing and had a TOP of 45:07...and lost. Huh? This is the first time since 1977 (when tracking TOP became a stat) that a team had a TOP of less than 15 minutes and won. So, history was actually witnessed twice last night. The TOP and Manning passing Johnny U.

One factor in the Colts having such a low TOP was they had two touchdown drives that totalled less than 45 seconds. The first drive of the game was 1 play and covered 80 yards and took a whole 12 seconds. The winning drive was 4 plays and consumed a massive 32 seconds. 5 plays in 44 seconds and 14 points? Scary. Really scary. The longest Colts drive of the night was barely over 4 minutes (4:07 to be exact). The Dolphins shortest drive: 2:23. All the other Dolphin scoring drives were at least 9 plays and over 6:00. They had 5 drives that resulted in scores.

So how did Miami lose? Three of their five drives ended in field goals and you can't settle for field goals and hope to beat Manning and the Colts. Think about this: Even when you keep Manning and the potent Colts offense off the field doesn't guarantee you a win if you don't put the ball in the endzone. Plain and simple.

On passing Unitas as the Colts leader in wins, Manning was his usual humble self. He even indicated he was a bit unsettled being mentioned with the likes of Unitas. You could even see him blush a bit at the comparison. But that's a side a Manning that makes him so refreshing in the "me" world of today's athlete. He receives his fair share of face time with all of his commercials, but it's in a manner which we enjoy. It's not about him. It's about the team. No trash talking tweets. No chest pounding. Just play the game and play it the best you can.

But one thing I'll tell people about Peyton Manning. Check out this video.

Sometimes you just can't help yourself. Congrats, Peyton. See you in Canton.