Colts rally past Cardinals for best start since 2009

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — It was Jonathan Taylor running the ball and Daniel Jones making crucial plays at big moments.

A winning combination for the Indianapolis Colts.

Jones threw two touchdown passes and Jonathan Taylor ran 1 yard for the go-ahead score with 4:32 left, sending the Colts to a 31-27 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

“We had to make sure we fought through and played together till the end,” Taylor said. “I think it just showed the way we continued fighting, scratching, clawing and then down at the end we had to be dominant on the line of scrimmage.”

They did all of that and more on their way to their sixth straight home win over the past two seasons.

Jones led the Colts (5-1) on a 66-yard scoring drive to take the lead for good in a second half dominated by the offenses. There were no punts in the final two quarters.

Jones finished 22 of 30 for 212 yards with one interception. He also ran for a score. Taylor carried 21 times for 123 yards in his 27th career 100-yard game, and rookie tight end Tyler Warren caught six passes for 63 yards and a touchdown.

“We knew it was going to be a back-and-forth game,” Colts coach Shane Steichen said after beating one of his good friends, Arizona coach Jonathan Gannon, in their first regular-season meeting. “And it was great to see the offense there at the end, go down and get that touchdown to go up 31-27.”

For Gannon and Arizona (2-4), it has been a difficult month.

The Cardinals have lost four straight, the last two by blowing fourth-quarter leads. This time, they had a chance to rally by driving to the Indianapolis 9-yard line with just over one minute to go, but the Colts forced a turnover on downs — despite Trey McBride’s contention he was held in the end zone on the fourth-down play.

“I got a little operating room, I thought I got a pass interference,” McBride said. “They (the referees) didn’t think so. That was unfortunate.”

Jacoby Brissett replaced the injured Kyler Murray against one of his former teams. He was 27 of 44 for 320 yards and two TDs with one interception. McBride had a season-high eight receptions for 72 yards and a score.

But it wasn’t enough to overcome the frenzied final two quarters, thanks largely to Taylor and Jones.

Arizona took a 17-14 lead on McBride’s 1-yard TD reception. Indy answered with a tying 45-yard field goal, and then Brissett found Greg Dortch for a 12-yard TD pass and a 24-17 lead.

Indy tied it again on Jones’ 5-yard TD pass to Josh Downs in the back of the end zone early in the fourth. Then, after Arizona regained the lead on a 44-yard field goal, Taylor found a running lane to his left for the decisive score.

“We had some good (defensive) concepts, I liked what we did at times,” Gannon said. “But we gave Taylor way too much.”

Injury report

Cardinals: Murray (foot) missed his first game since 2023, and receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. left after his head bounced hard off the turf in the second quarter, putting him in the concussion protocol. The scariest moment came when TE Travis Vokolek (neck) was placed on a backboard and taken off the field on a golf cart following a first-quarter collision on a kickoff return. Fox Sports reported Vokolek was alert and able to move his extremities. Safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson hurt his lower right leg in a collision with linebacker Akeem Davis-Gather late in the game.

Colts: Indy ruled out two players — starting CB Kenny Moore II (Achilles tendon) and backup RB Tyler Goodson (groin) — on Friday, and then lost starting CB Charvarius Ward (concussion) and backup QB Anthony Richardson (eye) because of injuries suffered in pregame warmups. Ward collided with TE Drew Ogletree. Richardson has a fractured orbital bone.

Out of sight

Emari Demercado was listed as the No. 2 running back on Arizona’s depth chart, but one week after he dropped the ball before crossing the goal line, resulting in a turnover, he was limited to just one carry for 1 yard because of an ankle injury.

“He was in the plan, but with Emari going down that was a big shift for us,” Gannon said.

Up next

Cardinals: Return home next Sunday to face the Green Bay Packers.

Colts: Head back to Los Angeles to play the Chargers next Sunday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL