Defense proves difference
After poor 1st half, Colts shut down Pack, force turnover in OT
INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts defense may have turned Aaron Rodgers into a believer Sunday.
Everyone else might want to take notice, too.
After allowing three touchdown passes and 28 first-half points, the Colts gave up only three second-half points. They also forced a game-changing fumble less than a minute into overtime for a 34-31 victory over the Packers.
Rodrigo Blankenship won it with a 39-yard field goal with 7:10 remaining.
The Colts (7-3) did it with an old-school combination: The offense that played keep-away, a defense that came up with two three-and-outs and a fourthdown stop late in the fourth quarter, and the key turnover in overtime.
Philip Rivers was 24 of 35 with 288 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in his 234th consecutive start, tying Eli Manning for the 10th-longest streak in league history. Jonathan Taylor had 22 carries for 90 yards in a wild game that included Packers scores in the final 10 seconds of each half; the Colts erasing a 14-point halftime deficit, then failing to seal the win because of five holding calls on their final drive in regulation.
Rodgers took full advantage of the second chance, hooking up with Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a 47-yard pass play. That took the Packers from the 6-yard line to the Colts 47. Seven plays later, Mason Crosby tied the game at 31 with a 26-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining.
But after the Packers won the coin toss, Valdes-Scantling lost a fumble when hit by Julian Blackmon on the second play from scrimmage. DeForest Buckner recovered and four plays later, Blankenship won it.
Rodgers was 27 of 38 for 311 yards, three touchdown passes and one interception.
Davante Adams had seven catches for 106 yards and one score, and Aaron Jones rushed for another score.