Colts can only kick themselves for loss to Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Indianapolis Colts finally got their offense going against the Kansas City Chiefs late in the first half Saturday, driving deep downfield with an opportunity to bite into their deficit.

Andrew Luck scrambled out of bounds with a few seconds left, and Colts coach Frank Reich sent one of the most reliable kickers in NFL history out to attempt a 23-yard field goal.

Adam Vinatieri doinked it off the left upright.

Instead of taking some momentum into the locker room on a cold, snowy afternoon, the Colts trudged there facing a 24-7 deficit. They wouldn’t score on offense until Luck connected with T.Y. Hilton with 5:31 left in the game, and by that point the Chiefs were skating toward a victory.

Vinatieri was a microcosm of a day in which little went right. Even when the Colts finally made the end zone, the veteran of 27 previous playoff games proceeded to miss the extra point.

Luck, whose offensive line had kept him remarkably clean during a five-game win streak, spent the entire game with linebackers Dee Ford and Justin Houston in his face. He was sacked three times, hit twice that many, and had what seemed like a dozen passes batted at the line of scrimmage.

He finished 19 of 36 for 203 yards and a score, and left with his No. 12 jersey caked in mud.

FINES: Chicago safety Adrian Amos has been fined $26,739 by the NFL for his unnecessary roughness penalty in the Bears’ playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last weekend.

Amos hit tight end Zach Ertz, who was deemed a defenseless receiver, in the third quarter of Philadelphia’s 16-15 win last Sunday. It came on a third-down play that extended the drive that gave the Eagles a 10-6 lead on Dallas Goedert’s 10-yard touchdown catch.

Eagles defensive lineman Bennett was docked $10,026 on Saturday, also for unnecessary roughness, for an open-handed punch to the face of Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long’s face in the second quarter. It was also a third-down play that extended a drive, and Chicago kicked a field goal a few plays later.