GREEN BAY - The mood of a locker room is measured by sound, and on Sunday the Green Bay Packers were hushed. Reporters flooded in as players wanted out.
Some, like cornerback LaDarius Gunter, who was beaten for an 8-yard touchdown before the half, gathered their clothes, their shoes, their backpacks and retreated to deeper corners of Lambeau Field.
Others, like safety Kentrell Brice, had watched the Indianapolis Colts return the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, so Brice sat in silence with his gaze pointing down. He fiddled with a pink bracelet and continuously shook his head.
But none of those players were Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, the third-year safety for whom Sunday was a dichotomy different than the rest. In the first half he nabbed two interceptions and notched a punt-forcing sack. In the second he whiffed on a crucial blitz that enabled the Colts to run out the clock.
Indianapolis 31, Green Bay 26.
McGINN: Lament at Lambeau deepens
DOUGHERTY: Listless Packers seek spark
RELATED: Colts blanket Rodgers, offense
D'AMATO: Packers' defense fails again
INSIDER: Thumbs down to pass rushers
“That’s all I’ll remember,” Clinton-Dix said after the game. “Until I play next Sunday, the only thing I’ll remember is the last play of the game on third down.
“That’s a play I let get away from me. That’s a play I’ve got to make, I want to make and unfortunately it did get away from me.”
Here are the particulars: The Colts, leading by what proved to be the final score, took the field with 3 minutes, 29 seconds remaining. Two first downs would win the game. The offense stared at third and 10.
Two hours earlier, defensive coordinator Dom Capers had asked Clinton-Dix to blitz from deep in the secondary with the Colts facing third and long. So he careened into the backfield and collided with quarterback Andrew Luck; the result was a drive-killing sack.
Capers redialed with the game on the line, and Clinton-Dix flew in from the quarterback’s left. He arrived in the pocket unblocked, untouched and with an unfiltered view of Luck.
For a moment, his two hands grasped the quarterback’s jersey. A moment later, they most certainly did not.
“Man, he’s huge like I told you earlier this week,” Clinton-Dix said. “He’s a strong quarterback. With the way you can go in, you can’t really go in and hit him low, so I took my chance high and I missed. He’s a great quarterback. I made a mistake and I’ll learn from it.”
Luck wriggled free as a surefire sack evolved into a second chance at life. He stepped up in the pocket and slid to his left. He threw back across his body. He unleashed a perfect throw to his tight end Jack Doyle, and the Colts had one of their two first downs.
“Guys fought their butts off all day long,” Luck said. “They really did a heck of a job. When we had to make a play, we did. Jack did a great job of getting open.”
The fight included Luck, whose two first-half interceptions kept the listless Packers afloat. And it also included Clinton-Dix, whose miss on the vital blitz worked to sully an otherwise tremendous performance.
BOX SCORE: Colts 31, Packers 26
RELATED: Pass rush fails to rattle Luck
RELATED: Cobb used in emergency
RELATED: Poor kick coverage a problem
He entered the game as a poster child for a secondary that has underachieved. Though he had played every snap of the season — the only defensive player with 100 percent participation — the production lagged behind: one tackle for loss in the first seven games; zero sacks; zero interceptions.
Everything changed in the first quarter in a coverage ripe with disguise. Luck fired deep down the right sideline, and Clinton-Dix swooped in to make the play.
Minutes later, when Luck overthrew Doyle, one interception became two.
“God was with me,” Clinton-Dix said. “That’s all I’ve got to say about that.”
Posted!
A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.













































































































































Interested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:
1 of 141
2 of 141
3 of 141
4 of 141
5 of 141
6 of 141
7 of 141
8 of 141
9 of 141
10 of 141
11 of 141
12 of 141
13 of 141
14 of 141
15 of 141
16 of 141
17 of 141
18 of 141
19 of 141
20 of 141
21 of 141
22 of 141
23 of 141
24 of 141
25 of 141
26 of 141
27 of 141
28 of 141
29 of 141
30 of 141
31 of 141
32 of 141
33 of 141
34 of 141
35 of 141
36 of 141
37 of 141
38 of 141
39 of 141
40 of 141
41 of 141
42 of 141
43 of 141
44 of 141
45 of 141
46 of 141
47 of 141
48 of 141
49 of 141
50 of 141
51 of 141
52 of 141
53 of 141
54 of 141
55 of 141
56 of 141
57 of 141
58 of 141
59 of 141
60 of 141
61 of 141
62 of 141
63 of 141
64 of 141
65 of 141
66 of 141
67 of 141
68 of 141
69 of 141
70 of 141
71 of 141
72 of 141
73 of 141
74 of 141
75 of 141
76 of 141
77 of 141
78 of 141
79 of 141
80 of 141
81 of 141
82 of 141
83 of 141
84 of 141
85 of 141
86 of 141
87 of 141
88 of 141
89 of 141
90 of 141
91 of 141
92 of 141
93 of 141
94 of 141
95 of 141
96 of 141
97 of 141
98 of 141
99 of 141
100 of 141
101 of 141
102 of 141
103 of 141
104 of 141
105 of 141
106 of 141
107 of 141
108 of 141
109 of 141
110 of 141
111 of 141
112 of 141
113 of 141
114 of 141
115 of 141
116 of 141
117 of 141
118 of 141
119 of 141
120 of 141
121 of 141
122 of 141
123 of 141
124 of 141
125 of 141
126 of 141
127 of 141
128 of 141
129 of 141
130 of 141
131 of 141
132 of 141
133 of 141
134 of 141
135 of 141
136 of 141
137 of 141
138 of 141
139 of 141
140 of 141
141 of 141
Added cornerback Quinten Rollins: “Just the hard work that he puts in week in and week out, you get rewarded on game day. A testament to him and his hard work, his preparation, getting in the right spot and making a play.”
But the mood of locker room is measured by sound, and Sunday the Packers resembled a pall. Because Clinton-Dix had whiffed on a blitz when it mattered most, and the Colts picked up those two first downs.
Said Clinton-Dix: “I’ve got to move on.”
CHAT: Michael Cohen at 1 p.m. Monday
MONDAY MORNING HEADLINES: Submit your headline
RELATED: How they scored
GAME BLOG: Review Silverstein’s coverage
REPLAY: The buzz on Packers-Colts
Join the Conversation
To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs
Comments