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 offense ran 91 plays, compared to the Colts who were limited to just 50 plays. Kansas City outgained Indianapolis 240-14 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 27 of 43 passes for 300 yards and guiding four 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 the Kansas City 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 for a 48-yard catch. Indianapolis 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, that helped set up kicker Michael Badgley’s second field goal for a 20–9 lead late in the third quarter.
Kansas City found itself back up against the ropes from its own 3-yard line, but Mahomes created some magic and found 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 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 a ground game that ultimately wore the stampede down.
The Colts had no answer and unraveled with four straight three-and-out drives. Jones, who finished 19–for–31 for 181 yards and two touchdowns, couldn’t escape the pressure. After the Colts’ third straight punt, Mahomes marched the Chiefs offense downfield on the game-tying drive, navigating 15 plays for 87 yards to set up kicker Harrison Butker for a 25-yard chip shot as time expired to force overtime. The Colts chose to receive in overtime, but it changed nothing as its offense couldn’t sustain the drive for more than three plays before punting the game away.
Kansas City consumed nearly six minutes on a 12-play, 81-yard march. Mahomes kept the drive alive with a third-down strike to receiver Xavier Worthy for 31 yards before the final haymaker that set up Butker’s walk-off, game-winning FG from 27 yards out.
