Insider: Colts bounce back with 23-20 win over Raiders, set up huge game vs. Texans next week

INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts keep getting back off the mat.

Battered and bruised in the secondary, coming off an ugly performance in Atlanta, Indianapolis faced a critical game for playoff positioning against a Las Vegas team playing for its interim coach, Antonio Pierce.

And as the Colts have so many times this season under Shane Steichen, Indianapolis bounced back with a 23-20 win to stay in the playoff race and set up a monumental game against the Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium in the season finale next week.

Indianapolis (9-7) ensured a winning season just one year after collapsing to 4-13 by knocking off Las Vegas (7-9), whose slim playoff hopes were eliminated, and they did it by following the formula Steichen laid out in his introductory press conference.

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1. Throw to score

A Las Vegas defense that entered the game on a hot streak — the Raiders had allowed just five touchdowns on their previous 37 series — clearly did not want Indianapolis running back Jonathan Taylor to take over the game at the start.

After Taylor rushed for 25 yards and a touchdown on the Colts’ opening series, Las Vegas stacked the box, begging Indianapolis to make plays through the passing game.

Gardner Minshew took advantage twice, enough to stake Indianapolis to a commanding 14-3 halftime lead.

The first came on that opening drive. Under pressure, Minshew scrambled up into open space, found a streaking Josh Downs coming across the field and laid it out to him, allowing the rookie to catch the ball and race up the field for 50 yards, setting up Taylor’s touchdown.

The second was a gutsy call on the part of Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen. Frustrated by three consecutive punts, Steichen dialed up a play-action shot on third-and-1.

Deep threat Alec Pierce obliterated the Raiders’ coverage, Minshew put it on him and Pierce raced into the end zone for a 58-yard touchdown. Minshew ended up completing 15 of 23 passes for 224 yards and the touchdown to Pierce, but those two throws made the biggest difference in the game.

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2. Run to win

When Steichen was hired, he repeatedly said his offensive philosophy was to throw the ball to score, then run to win, a statement that has often meant he relies on the running game when the Colts have a lead in the second half.

With Taylor out for seven games this season due to injuries and a contract dispute, putting it into practice hasn’t always been easy in Steichen’s first season.

Taylor opened the game with five carries for 25 yards on the opening drive.

And then, when the Colts needed it in the fourth quarter, the running game was dominant. Taylor ripped off 96 yards on 21 carries — his highest yardage total of the season so far. Trey Sermon added four carries for 34 yards and the Colts salted away the clock on a pair of field-goal drives, knocking them through to keep the game out of the reach of the Las Vegas offense.

One week after Taylor picked up just 43 yards on 18 carries, Indianapolis rushed for 4.8 yards per carry and 135 yards overall, getting the tough yards when the Colts needed them most.

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3. Colts front four dominates line of scrimmage

Indianapolis badly needed its defensive line to come up big on Sunday.

The Colts lost their most consistent defensive back, strong safety Julian Blackmon, to injured reserve early in the week, then lost electric nickel Kenny Moore II to a back injury and a game-time decision late in the week.

With those two out of the lineup and former starting free safety Rodney Thomas II benched, Indianapolis was forced to turn to special teamer Chris Lammons in the nickel, even though Lammons had played just 32 defensive snaps in the past four years. Even with rookie Aidan O’Connell at quarterback, a young Colts secondary faced a mismatch against star Raiders receiver Davante Adams.

Enter the pass rush.

Indianapolis defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was dominant in the first half, hitting O’Connell three times and sacking him once, and he got plenty of help from defensive end Samson Ebukam and utility man Tyquan Lewis, who came up with the other sack in the first half.

The Colts front also took advantage of a Raiders team that didn’t have an injured Josh Jacobs at running back, limiting Las Vegas to just 3.5 yards per carry, erasing the offensive formula Las Vegas has used successively with O’Connell at quarterback in the past.

Las Vegas did move the ball at times. But the Raiders clearly altered their game plan in the second half to avoid the rush, limiting the impact of Adams — who finished with 13 catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns — and repeatedly sputtered before they could get into scoring range, at least until the game was out of reach.