EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It was as close to a must-win as you could get in the Meadowlands on Sunday afternoon, and the Colts (more specifically Anthony Richardson) answered the bell. After a tumultuous past month surrounding the quarterback situation for Indianapolis, the Colts came into the day on Sunday having lost three straight games. Richardson was deemed the starting quarterback earlier in the week after being benched for the previous two weeks.
Michael Pittman Jr. was active in this game, while Colts starting left tackle Bernhard Raimann was inactive. Indianapolis started three rookie offensive lineman in place of the injured Raimann, Ryan Kelly, and Will Fries.
The first quarter was relatively quiet, although Richardson started the game 5-6 through the air for 88 yards. Matt Gay nailed a 41-yard field goal, the Colts defense forced two three-and-outs, and Indy took a 3-0 lead into the second quarter.
One element of Richardson's game that is so valuable is his running ability. After converting a huge third down courtesy of a 33-yard connection to AD Mitchell, Richardson kept it himself for a two-yard touchdown to give the Colts a 10-0 lead over New York at the beginning of the second quarter.
Gay continued to be clutch for the Colts as he nailed a 47-yard field goal in that second frame to make it a 13-0 lead for Indianapolis. As aforementioned, this Colts defense was playing lights out in the first half. In fact, the Jets did not get a first down until under two minutes to play in the first half. However, it was a seven-play, 76-yard drive in just 97 seconds that saw New York break through. Aaron Rodgers hit Breece Hall for a 29-yard touchdown, and the Colts went into the half time break on top 13-7.
The Colts had the ball first out of the break yet turned it over almost immediately. Pressure broke through to sack Richardson, he fumbled, and the Jets recovered just outside the redzone to begin the second half of play. New York capitalized just two plays later courtesy of a Hall 18-yard touchdown scamper as the Jets took a 14-13 lead.
These two teams traded field goals as Gay nailed a 56-yarder followed by a not-to-be-outdone Anders Carlson's 58-yarder. That brought the score to 17-16 in favor of the Jets heading into the fourth quarter.
New York extended its lead early in the final frame as Rodgers hit Kenny Yeboah for an 11-yard touchdown (Yeboah's first career touchdown) putting the Jets on top 24-16.
Richardson continued to convert on critical third downs as he proceeded to lead the Colts on an 8-play 70-yard touchdown drive culminating in a 10-yard connection with Josh Downs. The following two-point conversion to tie was unsuccessful as a Richardson pass tipped just off the outstretched fingertips of tight end Mo Alie-Cox. Indy trailed 24-22 with ten minutes remaining.
After a time-consuming and lengthy drive by the Jets, the Colts stood tall and held them to just a field goal attempt. Carlson's 35-yard try was good, and New York led 27-22 with just under three minutes to play.
When the Colts needed a game-winning drive, Anthony Richardson and this offense delivered. A 39-yard connection between AR and Alec Pierce followed by a 17-yard hookup with Josh Downs really put the Colts in business. A couple pays later, Richardson pushed his way across the goal line for a four-yard touchdown with just 46 seconds remaining. Jonathan Taylor two-point conversion attempt fell short, leaving the Colts clinging to a 28-27 lead.
A Kwity Paye sack sealed it down the stretch, and the Colts came up with a massive 28-27 victory over the Jets snapping a three-game losing streak.
"Great, great team win," head coach Shane Steichen said postgame. "Obviously, these games come down to the wire a lot of times, but the results of our group were phenomenal there. Great drive at the end by Anthony [Richardson] and the rest of our guys to go down and score. The way he played, the way he battled today was phenomenal. We have to keep him rolling."
"Definitely a lot of excitement. We’re definitely excited to get the victory, but we’re trying to stack them up, honestly," Richardson said after the game. "Of course we’re going to celebrate it, but we try not to focus on them too, too much, because there’s another team coming to Indy this coming week to try and stop us and put us down. So, of course we’re all excited, but we know we’ve got more work to do."
Anthony Richardson set a career high with 272 passing yards on 20-30 throwing the football for one touchdown. He also ran the ball 10 times for 32 yards and two more touchdowns. Richardson also set a single-game career high with a 106.5 passer rating.
"He was great. Composure was phenomenal," Steichen said of Richardson's performance. "I think it's excitement more than anything. I mean the guy we know how talented he is. He put in great work this week, got to continue that because we know what type of player he can be. He's putting in the work and progressing in that way and he was ready to roll today."
"It felt good. Today, I was taking it one play at a time. I wasn’t even thinking about the past two weeks. I’m just thinking about where I am now," a relaxed Richardson said. "I just hope my teammates see that I’m willing to do anything for them. I’m willing to put my body on the line to go sacrifice anything on the field for them. But I definitely appreciate them for just trusting me and believing in me throughout the whole process, regardless of what we had going on. Shoutout to coach, I just appreciate all of the support."
"I felt like I was in a rhythm all day, honestly." Richardson continued. "I had a great week of preparation this week. It just translated into today. I trusted my receivers to get open, o-line protected me enough for me to do that with the ball, but I felt like I was in a rhythm all day."
Josh Downs finished the game leading the Colts in receiving with five receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown. Jonathan Taylor carried the ball 24 times for 57 yards.
Kwity Paye and Laiatu Latu powered the Colts to three sacks on the defensive side of the ball with two sacks and one sack respectively. Matt Gay was a perfect 3-3 on field goals including a long of 56-yards. Steichen says this is a performance that can turn the tides for the Colts.
"I think sometimes you go through stretches like we did and lost three in a row, and you get a big one like we did today and that can spark things," Steichen concluded. "Sometimes it just takes one to get it going. We know we have a huge one coming up against Detroit at our place, so we have to put in the preparation like we did this week, be ready to go for that."
The Colts improve to 5-6 on the season—right in the thick of the AFC potential playoff picture and certainly still in the hunt. Indianapolis welcomes the Detroit Lions to town next Sunday at 1:00 p.m.