NFL Wild Card Weekend Results: Indianapolis Colts 26, Cincinnati Bengals 10

The Indianapolis Colts relied on Andrew Luck’s poise under centre despite being under pressure to dominate the Cincinnati Bengals, 26-10 in the AFC wild card playoff game on Sunday. The Bengals trailed by just three at halftime, 13-10 but the Colts ran away in the second half behind Luck, who finished with 376 passing yards on 31-of-44 completions with a touchdown.

Indianapolis running back Daniel Herron had 141 total yards, 56 rushing on 12 carries and 85 receiving on 10 catches, with one rushing TD. Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton had 103 yards on just 6 catches. The Colts dominated the Bengals on the air, 368-144 passing yards and both teams had similar numbers on the ground 114 for the Colts and 110 for the Bengals.

"The one magical play was when Andrew was at his finest. He’s a maestro. He's unbelievable back there.” Colts head coach Chuck Pagano said to ESPN.com of Luck’s mighty composure in the third quarter, when the star QB found Donte Moncrief for a 36-yard touchdown that started to turn the close game to a blowout. Adam Vinatieri added two field goals, one late in the third and the other early in the fourth to put the game out of reach.

Cincinnati’s hard luck in the postseason continues failing to win in four straight playoffs and 0-4 since January 1991. Rookie Jeremy Hill rushed for 47 yards and the only TD for the Bengals. The Bengals have scored 13 points or below in their four losses in the postseason.

The fourth-seeded Colts moves on to the next round against the Denver Broncos on Sunday in the AFC Divisional Playoffs. The match-up will pit Luck against former Colts’ QB Peyton Manning in a battle between one of the top QBs in the league and one of the best ever to play the game. The other AFC pairing pits the Baltimore Ravens against the New England Patriots.

To contact author of this article, email j.gloria@IBTimes.com.au