-
Stephen Holder, ESPN
DENVER — Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor crossed the goal line and began doing a happy dance in celebration of his apparent 41-yard touchdown. He then headed to the bench, where the celebration continued.
Then everything stopped abruptly.
Taylor’s potential score, which would have given the Colts a two-touchdown lead in their critical matchup with the Denver Broncos, was under review and ultimately overturned when officials ruled that he fumbled before the ball crossed the goal. line.
The ball subsequently went out of bounds of the end zone, which was, by rule, a touchback. The Colts (6-8) never recovered from it, with Denver (9-5) scoring the final 24 points of the game and strengthening their playoff position with a 31-13 victory.
“It just can’t happen, no matter the game, no matter the scenario,” Taylor said later. “You could be up 50, down 50, in a playoff game, in the first game of the season. That should never happen.”
Taylor said he didn’t realize what had happened until long after the play was over.
“I didn’t know until they started saying they were reviewing it,” he said. “I’m thinking, ‘Why are they reviewing it?'”
Taylor’s play was emblematic of a game that featured an endless parade of mistakes for the Colts, all of which led to a loss that put them in a tough spot in the AFC playoff race. The Colts committed five turnovers, suffered eight penalties and had some key breakdowns in punt coverage that resulted in points for the Broncos.
“Sometimes someone gives you their best and your best just wasn’t good enough,” Taylor said. “But when you get hurt like that, it hurts.”
The Colts were trying to close the gap between themselves and the Broncos for the seventh and final playoff spot in the conference. Instead, the Broncos moved into sixth place and the Colts remain in eighth, now two games behind the seventh-place Los Angeles Chargers. Indianapolis has not made the playoffs since 2020.
As for Taylor’s fumble, even the Broncos were taken aback.
“That was significant,” Denver coach Sean Payton said. “I don’t understand it. I’m not going to try… You go from breaking up a long touchdown run for your team to us having the ball.”
Broncos safety Brandon Jones, who couldn’t stop Taylor on the play, felt some relief.
“I took a bad angle and didn’t knock him to the ground,” he said. “So I was mad at myself. And then seeing that happen after the fact was a good thing. A big change in momentum.”
The Colts’ other notable play was a stunt that went wrong and resulted in a 50-yard Broncos touchdown.
With 12:29 left and the Broncos leading 17-13, Colts coach Shane Steichen called for quarterback Anthony Richardson to cross the field toward wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, who then attempted to make a lateral move toward Richardson. . But Mitchell’s call backfired when linebacker Nik Bonitto read the play and stepped in front of Richardson to intercept the ball. As a fullback, the play was ruled a fumble, and Bonitto’s subsequent score was technically a fumble recovery.
“To be completely honest, I don’t think I’ve seen the guy,” Steichen said of Mitchell. If recoil was not available, Steichen said, the instructions to Mitchell were to “throw it in the trash.”
“We replayed that play all week and it was great,” Steichen said. “He looked great all week.”
However, the Colts’ imperfect execution could have alerted the Broncos that something was afoot.
“It was a slow-building play, so I knew something was off,” Bonitto said. “Once I saw Richardson back up a little bit, I decided to try to brake.”
