Matt Ryan leads Indianapolis Colts to season-saving 34-27 victory over Jacksonville Jaguars
INDIANAPOLIS — Matt Ryan came up big again.
Facing a fourth-quarter deficit, Ryan led the Indianapolis Colts on a game-winning drive and hit Alec Pierce for the game-winning touchdown in a 34-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars that keeps the Colts in the middle of the driver’s seat.
The Colts (3-2-1) now face a showdown with the Tennessee Titans next week with the AFC South lead on the line.
Facing a third-and-13 at the Jacksonville 32-yard line with the game, and potentially a chance at the AFC South title, on the line, Colts coach Frank Reich decided to be aggressive. He called a pass play and trusted Matt Ryan to make the right decision, rather than taking the sack and knocking kicker Chase McLaughlin out of field goal range.
Ryan, who has been at his best in Indianapolis in crunch time, came up with something better.
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Seeing 1-on-1 coverage against Pierce on the outside, Ryan decided to take a shot, and the rookie went up for a remarkable 32-yard touchdown catch, taking the game off of McLaughlin’s foot and essentially eliminating any chance Jacksonville had to come back.
For weeks, Indianapolis has worked hard to unlock an offense that hadn’t scored more than 20 points in seven consecutive games, dating back to the Christmas night win over Arizona last season.
The problems have been varied.
But in 2022, the responsibility has largely fallen on an offensive line that hasn’t been able to find the right personnel combination or any kind of a rhythm so far this season. The Colts tinkered with the lineup again Sunday, first by flip-flopping Braden Smith and Matt Pryor to right tackle and right guard, respectively, then by inserting Dennis Kelly into the lineup at left tackle in place of rookie Bernhard Raimann, who started the game.
Frustrated all season by his team’s inability to move defenders in the running game and forced to work without superstar Jonathan Taylor or Nyheim Hines for the second consecutive game, Reich minimized the running game significantly, calling just 16 runs in the game.
Based on the way Indianapolis has struggled to protect the quarterback, that strategy should have been problematic, but the Colts emphasized their quick game, getting the ball out of Ryan’s hands almost as soon as it touched his hands.
Ryan responded, completing 42 (a Colts record) of 58 throws for 357 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, he did not take a sack and did not turn the ball over, either by fumble or interception, finally pushing Indianapolis past the 20-point mark.
Handed another deficit late in the fourth, Ryan responded by calmly, methodically marching the Colts into position to win the game, including a key third-and-10 completion to Michael Pittman Jr. that got Indianapolis into field goal range, before firing the key 32-yard touchdown pass to Pierce.
For most of the season, the Indianapolis run defense has been the team’s most consistent area.
Indianapolis entered Sunday’s game allowing just 3.4 yards per carry, the second-best mark in the NFL. Without Kwity Paye at defensive end, though the Jaguars thought they could beat the Colts on the edge, and Jacksonville was right.
Alternating running backs, Jacksonville ripped through the Indianapolis defense for 248 yards on 32 carries, averaging a remarkable 7.8 yards per carry. The Jaguars had runs of 61 yards and 48 yards.
Making matters worse, after the Colts took a 26-21 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, Indianapolis gave up an 18-play, 84-yard drive that included two defensive penalties and took 10:04 off the clock, ending when Trevor Lawrence hit receiver Christian Kirk on a 4-yard completion for the go-ahead touchdown.
Indianapolis made life difficult on Lawrence, sacking him four times and essentially taking away any semblance of a deep passing game, but it largely did not matter because the Colts could not stop the run.