They were also shut out in the first half for the first time since Oct. It was those kinds of mistakes that plagued the team throughout the first three quarters. He ultimately made the field goal on the second try and extended the Colts' lead to 20. However, Patriots special teamer Brandon King went offsides, which gave Badgley not only another shot at the attempt, but pushed him 5 yards closer. On Indy's first possession of the second half, kicker Michael Badgley initially missed a 46-yard field goal. On the night, New England committed eight penalties for 50 yards and one directly contributed to points being put on the board. Once they entered Indianapolis territory on the opening possession, however, they collapsed: Kendrick Bourne was held to a 1-yard rush on an end-around, a Shaq Mason penalty negated a 14-yard pass, and Jones was later sacked for a 15-yard loss, which forced the Patriots into a fourth-and-30 situation. To begin the day offensively, they did move the ball well for a moment. There were a number of uncharacteristic plays by Bill Belichick's team, which contributed to the Patriots falling behind early. The Patriots were the anti-Patriots for the first three quarters of this game. All three of Indianapolis' fourth-down conversions were via a Wentz sneak, which either resulted in points being put on the board or simply killed clock in what proved to be a tightly contested game late. While Wentz had a quiet night through the air, he was extremely clutch with his legs. Had the Patriots found the end zone during that drive, they would have trailed by just six and that second score by Hunter Henry later in the fourth would have given them the lead. The Taylor touchdown run in the fourth quarter is an obvious example, but holding New England to a field goal after they got the football down to the Indianapolis 2-yard line proved to be a big swing in the game. That was almost immediately recovered by the Colts in the end zone to create the two-score lead.Įven as the Patriots mounted their comeback attempt in the second half, they were able to make clutch plays at the right moment. The Colts were able to block a punt after New England seemed to let a Colts defender run through the line unscathed and put a hand on the football. Through the first half, 122 of Indy's 160 total yards of offense came via the running game.Īs Indy hammered that advantage, it was also able to capitalize on general poor play by the Patriots. That culminated in the game's first touchdown when Wentz completed a shuffle pass to Nyheim Hines following a direct snap to Taylor. That was on full display on the club's second offensive possession of the night where they traveled 78 yards almost exclusively on the ground. The biggest was the Patriots' weakness in defending the run. Over the first three quarters, Indianapolis largely was able to take advantage of New England's mistakes and were able to exploit a couple of key matchups. Meanwhile, Mac Jones completed 26 of 45 for 299 yards, two touchdowns - both to Hunter Henry - and two picks.įor more on how this game unfolded, check out our takeaways below. Taylor finished with 170 yards on the ground, which included that clinching score. Arguably his biggest plays on the night game courtesy on his legs by converting a number of first downs in critical spots. Indy was able to capitalize on those mistakes and jump out to that early lead, which helped cushion the Patriots' late comeback attempt.Ĭarson Wentz wasn't asked to do much heavy-lifting in the passing game as he completed just five of his 12 throws on the night for 57 yards, a touchdown and an interception. It was an uncharacteristic night for the Patriots, who were plagued with special teams issues - including a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown - and inconsistent play both offensively and defensively. On a second-and-8 attempt with just over two minutes remaining in the game, Taylor broke off a 67-yard touchdown run that broke the game wide open for Indianapolis, giving them the 27-17 win in this Week 15 matchup that snapped New England's seven-game winning streak. But just as the tides appeared to be turning in favor of the Patriots, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor decided to slam the door shut. In the fourth quarter, however, New England began to show sparks of life as they went on a 17-0 run to bring them within a field goal just before the two-minute warning. Over that stretch, they were able to shut out Bill Belichick's club while they proceeded to put 20 unanswered points on the board. The Indianapolis Colts had a firm grip of Saturday's matchup against the Patriots for the first three quarters.
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