INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts finally got a win in Los Angeles, where coach Shane Steichen paid his dues before now directing the NFL's best scoring offense.
Steichen said he felt emotional
going against his old team, especially after seeing so many Los Angeles Chargers alumni on the field before the game.
“It’s great to come back here,” Steichen said. “I got a lot of great memories here.”
The Colts gave him another one after earning their NFL-leading sixth win, 38-24 on Sunday behind Jonathan Taylor's third three-touchdown game of the season and Daniel Jones throwing for 288 yards and two scores.
“Shout out to Shane,” Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. said. “Man, great, great game plan. Great team, a playoff-caliber team.”
Taylor wasn't touched on TD runs of 23, 8 and 19 yards. He had 16 carries for 94 yards.
“When you have an offensive line like we have,” Taylor said, “I try to give them as much praise as possible because they do a lot of the heavy lifting and dirty work and they really make the job easy.”
Jones hit Michael Pittman Jr. for a 4-yard score and Tyler Warren with a 5-yard pass. The quarterback was 23 of 34 while getting sacked once.
“It’s electrifying. We have playmakers all over the place,” Taylor said. “It doesn’t matter who’s scoring, we can’t wait for each other to score.”
The Colts (6-1) also snapped a five-game skid in Los Angeles after losing to the Rams at SoFi Stadium last month. They hadn't beaten the Chargers, Rams or now-Las Vegas Raiders in L.A. since 1986. Overall, the Colts hadn't defeated the Chargers since Sept. 25, 2016, in Indianapolis.
“It just felt like every play was working for them,” Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen said.
Off to their best start since 2009, the AFC South-leading Colts led 23-3 at halftime while holding the Chargers to 10 rushing yards on six carries. Taylor got the Colts going with his first score 2 1/2 minutes into the game.
“We know teams are going to continue to give us their best shot,” Taylor said, “so it’s just going to get harder and harder.”
The Chargers (4-3) never led while losing for the third time in four games despite a career-high 420 passing yards and three touchdowns by Justin Herbert. His 37 completions set a franchise record. He was sacked three times and intercepted twice.
“It's tough the way it went,” Herbert said.
The Chargers outscored the Colts 21-17 in the second half, rallying with three touchdowns on three straight possessions, after being limited to Cameron Dicker's 43-yard field goal in the first half.
Their last drive of the game killed nine minutes but the Chargers turned the ball over on downs without getting to the red zone.
“I was proud of the way the guys fought. They never gave up,” Herbert said. “We always thought we were in it.”
Quentin Johnston caught a 7-yard TD pass on the Chargers' first possession of the third. The Colts answered with Taylor's second TD and Pittman on a 2-point conversion for a 31-10 lead.
Pittman had a 4-yard TD, Jones hit Tyler Warren with a 5-yard score, and Michael Badgley kicked a 36-yard field goal in the second quarter for a 23-3 halftime lead.
Grover Stewart got his first career interception with a pick of Herbert in the second quarter.
Herbert had the ball batted at the line of scrimmage by the 6-foot-4, 314-pound nose tackle. It popped in the air and Stewart caught it. Several Colts players charged up the field in celebration.
“Whenever a big man gets an interception like that, it’s always just electrifying on the sideline,” Taylor said. “We know similar to the offensive line, they do a lot of the heavy lifting and dirty work, so when they get rewarded for something like that, hey, let them go in the end zone, let them celebrate.”
Colts: DE Samson Ebukam got hurt and left in the third quarter.
Chargers: DL Otito Ogbonnia hurt his elbow in the first quarter and didn't return.
The Colts host Las Vegas on Sunday.
The Chargers host Minnesota on Thursday.
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