LATE-GAME FIELD GOAL LIFTS COLTS TO VICTORY
Broncos hold pivot Brissett in check but lose game in final minute
Adam Vinatieri kicked a 51-yard field goal with 22 seconds left, and the host Indianapolis Colts rallied to beat the Denver Broncos 15-13 on Sunday.
Vinatieri atoned for a missed PAT and missed field-goal attempt to lift the Colts (5-2) to their third straight win on a day in which quarterback Jacoby Brissett was held in check.
Brissett finished 15 of 25 for 202 yards, ran for 34 yards and a lost fumble. Marlon Mack rushed 76 yards and a touchdown for Indianapolis.
Joe Flacco was 20 for 32 passing for 174 yards, taking a sack on the game’s final play as time ran out. Phillip Lindsay had 59 yards rushing, and Royce Freeman ran for 40 yards and a touchdown for the Broncos (2-6).
The Colts were pinned at their 11 when Brissett avoided Von Miller’s sack attempt at the 1, scrambled right and hit T.Y. Hilton for 35 yards on the first play of the winning drive. Brissett then hit Nyheim Hines for five yards to midfield, and a horse-collar penalty on Denver linebacker Alexander Johnson gave Indianapolis a first down at the Broncos’ 34.
Four plays later, Vinatieri booted his third field goal of the day to win it.
The Broncos came off a 30-6 home loss to Kansas City 10 days earlier to hold Brissett in check.
The Colts quarterback had a career-high four touchdown passes in a win over Houston in Week 7 but didn’t have a touchdown pass against Denver. He was sacked four times and wriggled out of several other attempts.
Denver took the second-half kickoff and drove 75 yards in five plays, capped by Freeman’s fouryard touchdown run to go ahead 13-3. Indianapolis responded with a 12-play drive that covered just 45 yards and resulted in Vinatieri’s 45-yard field goal.
Denver went three-and-out on its next drive, and Brissett drove the Colts 68 yards in six plays and got within a point on Mack’s 10-yard touchdown run. But Vinatieri’s extra-point attempt was wide left.
The Broncos built a 6-0 lead late into the second quarter on a pair of short field goals by Brandon Mcmanus. Indianapolis drove 43 yards in six plays to set up Vinatieri’s 55-yard field goal to cut it to 6-3 at halftime.
Philip Rivers passed for 201 yards and a touchdown and Chicago’s Eddy Pineiro missed a potential game-winning 41-yard field goal wide left as time expired and the visiting Los Angeles Chargers held on for a 17-16 victory against the Bears on Sunday.
Los Angeles (3-5) exhaled with a victory as Chicago (3-4) sputtered down the stretch.
Rivers connected with Austin Ekeler for a go-ahead 11-yard touchdown pass with 8:04 remaining to put the Chargers ahead by the final margin.
Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa sacked Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky on a third down from the Los Angeles 40-yard line with 2:44 remaining to take Chicago out of range for a potential game-winning field goal.
The Bears got the ball back with 1:33 to go and moved into range for Pineiro, who missed the kick.
Bears rookie David Montgomery rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries, exceeding 100 yards for the first time in his career.
Chicago outgained Los Angeles 388-231, snapping a streak of six straight games without eclipsing 300 yards, the franchise’s longest such stretch since 2005.
Los Angeles failed to capitalize on a prime opportunity to take the lead early in the fourth quarter. Casey Hayward intercepted Trubisky and returned the ball to the Chicago 20. On third down, the
Chargers’ Keenan Allen dropped a touchdown in the end zone, and Chase Mclaughlin missed a 42-yard field goal wide right on the ensuing snap.
Trubisky fumbled on the next Chicago possession, however, moments after missing Taylor Gabriel on what appeared to be a likely touchdown. Los Angeles took over possession on the Chicago 25, and Rivers connected with Ekeler three plays later.
The Bears opened the second half with an 11-play, 75-yard drive in 6:52, punctuating the surge with a four-yard touchdown run from Montgomery to take a 16-7 lead.
Los Angeles grabbed a 7-6 lead on a 19-yard touchdown run from Melvin Gordon with 2:12 left in the second quarter. The play came one snap after Rivers connected with Mike Williams down the right sideline for 43 yards.
The Chargers had 57 yards of offence before those plays.
Chicago answered with a 19-yard Pineiro field goal as time expired on the second quarter to take a 9-7 lead into halftime. Pineiro drilled field goals of 22 and 25 yards earlier in the quarter, atoning for a missed 33-yarder that clanged off the right upright with 2:14 left in the first quarter.