In one of the best NFL playoff games you’ll ever see, the Indianapolis Colts came back to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 45-44 after trailing by 28 points. It looked bad for the Colts early in the second half after Andrew Luck threw an interception, which led to a touchdown by the Chiefs to take a 38-10 lead. After that point, the second biggest NFL playoff comeback was on.
It took a monster effort from Luck to overcome his mistakes to throw for 443 yards and four touchdowns to lead the comeback, but it also took some awful game management from Chiefs coach Andy Reid. Luck threw three interceptions in two and a half quarters but managed to play smart football the rest of the way to lead the Colts on three consecutive touchdowns possessions to give Indianapolis the comeback.
Kansas City blew the game partly because they only ran the ball 10 times in the second half. After Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis went out with injuries Reid was down to his third string running back in the fourth quarter. However, Reid only called eight running plays and 16 passes with a 21 point lead before Davis went down with an injury, so there is little excuse for not trying to bleed the clock earlier. Andy Reid also had some time issues that forced the Chiefs to call two timeouts that crushed their ability to manage a comeback of their own.
In a game like this there also has to be some great moments and Luck’s touchdown run after recovering Donald Brown’s fumble will be remembered for a long time to come. T.Y. Hilton’s 13 catches for 224 yards and two touchdowns, including a beautiful 64-yard game-winner, was also a big part of the story.
The 45-44 comeback win for the Colts will bring back memories of the Houston Oilers-Buffalo Bills playoff game played almost 20 years ago to the day. In that game the Oilers held a 35-3 lead early in the third quarter only to watch the Bills storm back at home on four Frank Reich touchdown passes.
It was an epic comeback for the Colts and Andrew Luck’s first career playoff win. Its games like this that make the NFL playoffs such a special time of year, hopefully you didn’t turn the television off.
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