Stampede Blue
The Indianapolis Colts fell apart late in Sunday’s 23-20 overtime loss as quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs erased an 11-point deficit to storm back in stunning fashion at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs ran 91 offensive plays, compared to the Colts limited to just 50 plays. Kansas City (6-5) outgained Indianapolis 228-18 over the final 23 minutes of regulation and overtime, unleashing an avalanche against the Colts defense that spent an eternity on the gridiron. Mahomes engineered the comeback, completing 29 of 46 passes for 352 passing yards and guiding three consecutive scoring drives to keep Kansas City’s playoff hopes alive.
Colts edge rusher Laiatu Latu made an immediate impact as he sniffed out a run-pass option, batted Mahomes’ first throw in the air and secured his third interception of the season to set up the offense at Kansas City’s 3-yard-line.
Quarterback Daniel Jones capitalized and fired a dart to receiver Michael Pittman Jr. at the goal line for a touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead. Jones stayed sharp on the second drive, spreading the wealth to three different tight ends. The veteran QB capped it off by motioning tight end Drew Ogletree from the left to the right side of the formation and hitting him in the back of the end zone for his first career touchdown to take a 14–3 advantage.
Colts head coach Shane Steichen dialed up a brilliant play design that led to a 48-yard strike as receiver Ashton Dulin aligned on the line initially as a blocker, but delayed his route and slipped across the field past safety Chamarri Conner. Indianapolis (8-3) repeatedly stalled out of drives because of self-inflected mistakes, drawing eight flags in the first half, including three that wiped out the opening possession. The Colts carried a 14–9 halftime lead that felt smaller than it should have.
Running back Jonathan Taylor, the NFL’s rushing leader, was limited to 58 rushing yards on 16 carries. Taylor broke through once, a 27-yard burst behind a pulling Quenton Nelson, which helped set up kicker Michael Badgley’s second chip shot field goal to take a 20–9 lead late in the third quarter.
Kansas City found itself backed up against the ropes from its own 3-yard line, but Mahomes created magic and found receiver Rashee Rice streaking across the middle for a 47-yard catch-and-run to midfield. The Chiefs finally broke through as Mahomes went 5-for-6 on an 11-play, 56-yard march capped by Kareem Hunt’s 2-yard touchdown run. Mahomes followed up by zipping a pass to Rice for a two-point conversion to trim the deficit to 20–17 with 8:37 left in the fourth quarter. Rice caught a game-high seven receptions for 120 receiving yards, while Hunt’s 102 yards on 29 carries powered the Chiefs’ ground game that ultimately wore the stampede down.
The Colts had no answer and unraveled with four straight three-and-out drives. Jones finished 19–for–31 for 181 yards and two touchdowns, but could not escape the pressure. After the Colts’ third straight punt,...
