Defense comes through late, keeps Colts’ playoff hopes alive – Indianapolis Colts Blog

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INDIANAPOLIS — Any possible playoff aspirations hung in the air as the Jacksonville Jaguars had the ball inside Indianapolis Colts territory with a chance to at least tie the score late in the fourth quarter at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Was this going to be Cincinnati all over again for the Colts? Or maybe like the losses against Philadelphia, Houston or the New York Jets?

It was looking like it was going to be that way against as the Colts reverted back to bad habits of dropped passes, foolish penalties and even a missed field goal by Adam Vinatieri in the second half to give the Jaguars some hope as they tried to salvage their season and squash Indianapolis’ playoff hopes at the same time.

And then the defense — the same defense that couldn’t stop Blake Bortles all game — made the game-saving play to keep the glimmer of postseason hope alive for the Colts with a 29-26 victory.

The Colts being shut out in the second half doesn’t mean a thing in the standings. All that matters is that they won their third straight game to improve to 4-5. Indianapolis will take the win after enduring losses against Cincinnati, Houston and Philadelphia in the final two minutes or overtime earlier in the season.

The game was setting up to go into overtime after Vinatieri, the NFL’s all-time leading scorer, missed a 52-yard field goal to give Jacksonville the ball at their own 34.

Bortles, as he’s did all game, threw underneath to get the Jaguars in Colts’ territory when the defense made a game-winning play for the second straight game. Bortles completed a pass to receiver Rashad Greene Jr. at the Colts’ 25 when cornerback Kenny Moore reached in and stripped the ball away, which was picked up by safety Malik Hooker.

Greene was originally called down, but after extended time in the replay booth, referee Jerome Boger said the ball was coming out before the play was called down. Colts linebacker Darius Leonard forced a fumble to help save a possible loss to the Oakland Raiders in Week 8.

There’s plenty of work to be done still, especially for a Colts defense that continues to struggle most of the game before finding a way to make a play late, but these aren’t the same Colts from the early part of the season.

They continue to climb in the playoff race, now a game out of the final wild-card spot with a key AFC South game against Tennessee looming Nov. 18.



Source : ESPN