The Indianapolis Colts were outdueled by Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs 23-20 in an overtime game that was as symbolically meaningful as it was tangibly impactful.
The Colts attained a two-possession lead, which they held through the nine-minute mark of the fourth quarter. However, Mahomes and the Chiefs surged ahead with 14 unanswered points, refusing to drop a second game in their own building this season.
After the game, Colts head coach Shane Steichen discussed the loss with reporters.
“Obviously very frustrating,” Steichen said. “Not up to our standards today, we’ve got to be better and it starts with myself.”
The Chiefs struggled mightily to put points on the board, despite dominating time of possession and for all intents and purposes controlling the flow of the game. The Chiefs ran 91 plays and obtained 33 first downs, while the Colts ran 50 plays and acquired just 10 first downs.
Kansas City’s very first play from scrimmage was an RPO that resulted in Laiatu Latu tipping and intercepting a Mahomes pass, resulting in a turnover and the ensuing Colts drive beginning at the 2-yard line.
The Indianapolis offense emerged and occupied an early lead that would be maintained until the final seconds of the fourth quarter. The Colts opened the game with three consecutive handoffs to Jonathan Taylor, but ended the game with significantly more yards through the air than yards on the ground.
Daniel Jones completed 19 of 31 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Those touchdown passes were hauled in by Michael Pittman Jr. and Drew Ogletree, while Ashton Dulin accumulated the most individual receiving yards with 48 on one catch. Taylor accounted for 58 yards on 16 carries without a score.
The Colts offense was largely unimpressive and noticeably outpaced by offense of the Chiefs. Kansas City gained 239 more yards and 23 more first downs than Indianapolis, with both teams having 11 drives on the day. The Colts, though, were in position to win because of turnovers and success in the red zone. The Chiefs turned the ball over twice and reached the end zone once on five regulation red zone opportunities, while the Colts never turned the ball over and reached the end zone on two of their four red zone opportunities.
After the game, Jones spoke with reporters about the offense’s fourth quarter struggles.
“Just didn’t execute in some key situations,” Jones said. “We’ve got to do a better job, I think overall in our execution… tough to have a stretch like that towards the end of the game.”
The Colts went three and out on every one of their four drives in the fourth quarter and overtime.
An unimpressive offense was able to remain in front on the scoreboard in part because of an inflexibly restrictive secondary and effective containment of Mahomes and his ability to scramble. The Colts sacked Mahomes four times, in part because he simply had no one to throw the ball to. Indianapolis clearly is benefiting from the trade for Sauce Gardner and the return of Charvarius Ward from injury.
However, the Chiefs were able to lean on Kareem Hunt and the run game while the passing game worked to crack the code of Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anaroumo’s schemes in the secondary. Hunt accumulated 104 yards and the team’s lone touchdown on 30 carries, lifting a great deal of the burden off of the shoulders of Mahomes.
As the fourth quarter began to dwindle to a close and the Colts grew closer to victory, Mahomes took over the reins and willed the Chiefs to their first one-possession win of the season. Mahomes completed 29 of 46 passes for 352 yards overall, with his primary target being the previously suspended Rashee Rice, who caught eight of those passes for 141 yards. Rice averaged over 17 yards per catch on the day.
No matter how many losses the Chiefs have taken so far this year, or how much of a juggernaut the Colts have presented themselves to be, a two possession lead is simply not enough when Mahomes is playing for the team on the opposite sideline.
Jones has been a great quarterback all season long. Mahomes, though, is on another level in terms of creativity on broken plays and heroism under pressure. In a tight game, in what was described by Tony Romo on the CBS broadcast to be a “playoff environment,” the greater quarterback pulled through.
The Indianapolis Colts are extremely dangerous and a viable contender this season, but Mahomes and the Chiefs were not yet willing to pass the torch to the trio of New England, Denver and Indianapolis who appear to now control the top of the AFC.
The Colts are next in action at home against the Houston Texans at 1 p.m. on Nov. 30, while the Chiefs travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys at 4:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving.
The Colts leave Kansas City with signs that there is very much still room for improvement, while the Chiefs show proof of life in a wildly competitive AFC that they are not yet irrelevant in. The Kansas City dynasty indicated against Indianapolis that it will not fall as swiftly as it appeared to be in the first half of the season.
