Cheers & Jeers: Colts-Bengals
INDIANAPOLIS — The comeback from 21 points down was unprecedented for an Indianapolis Colts home game.
The other four times the Colts have rallied to win after trailing by three touchdowns came on the road. Consider that an opening cheer in the Colts’ 31-27 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Cheers
— The Colts are 3-0 at home for the first time since 2010.
— Tight end Trey Burton ran for a 1-yard touchdown and caught a 10-yard scoring pass.
— Wide receiver Marcus Johnson had his second career 100-yard receiving game with five catches for 108 yards. His other 100-yard game came in December at Tampa Bay. Johnson has had a reception of 25-plus yards in three consecutive games.
— The Colts offense was 7-of-11 on third down (63.6 percent) and 4-for-4 in the red zone, both season bests.
— Rookie safety Julian Blackmon’s interception in the final minute marked the fifth consecutive game the Colts intercepted a pass. The last time that happened was Weeks 3-7 in 2018.
— The Colts had a season-high 11 passes defended.
— The Bengals finished with 98 yards rushing, the fourth time the Colts defense has limited an opponent to fewer than 100 yards rushing.
— Running back Nyheim Hines had five receptions, and with his third reception he passed Joe Washington (127) for the third-most receptions by a Colts running back in the first three seasons. He also passed Washington for the 10th-most receptions by a Colts player in the first three seasons.
— Tight end Jack Doyle caught his first TD pass of the season, and it proved to be the game-winning score in the fourth quarter.
— Safety Khari Willis had a game-high 10 total tackles.
— The Colts allowed just three points in the second half.
— Quarterback Philip Rivers passed for 235 yards in the second quarter. The only quarterback with more in a quarter was Dak Prescott with 254.
— Rivers passed Bruce Matthews (229) for the second-longest streak of consecutive games started since 1970.
— Rookie running back Jonathan Taylor amassed 115 total yards with 60 rushing on 12 carries and 55 receiving on four catches.
— Wide receiver Zach Pascal had four receptions for 54 yards with one TD.
— Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton passed Marshall Faulk (77) for the sixth-longest streak of consecutive games with a reception in franchise history.
— Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner had five tackles, two for loss, and one sack on third down that ended a Bengals possession. He also had four of the Colts’ six quarterback hits.
— Punter Rigoberto Sanchez averaged 45.7 yards on three punts with one downed at the 1-yard line.
— Reserve defensive tackles Tyquan Lewis and Taylor Stallworth split a sack.
Jeers
— Doyle fumbled away a short screen pass on the game’s second offensive play. It was the Colts’ first lost fumble of the season.
— The Bengals drove 43 yards for a TD on their opening drive.
— The Bengals lit up the NFL’s No. 1-ranked defense for a 21-0 lead just four seconds into the second quarter. The Bengals were 3-for-3 in the red zone.
— Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had taken a league-high 22 sacks entering the game. The Colts got him just twice.
— Burrow passed for 313 yards and completed 25-of-39 passes. He was hit just six times.
— Bengals rookie wide receiver Tee Higgins burned Colts cornerback Rock Ya-Sin for a 67-yard reception. Higgins had six receptions for 125 yards.
— Ya-Sin was flagged for unnecessary roughness after body-slamming Bengals running back Giovanni Bernard on a 4-yard reception.
— Colts head coach Frank Reich lost his third consecutive challenge in two games when he threw the red flag on a Hilton reception near the sideline. The call stood. Hilton was out of bounds when he secured the catch.
— Hilton had only one reception for 11 yards. The last time he had only one reception in a game was Week 7 at Oakland in 2018. His streak of not having a 100-yard receiving game is now at 16 consecutive regular-season games.
— Rivers threw an ill-advised deep pass into double coverage that was intercepted with the Colts leading 28-27 in the fourth quarter.
— Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke dropped an interception.
— The Bengals dominated time of possession, 34:28-25:32.
(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)
