Indy extends surge as Arizona falters

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Indianapolis Colts have beaten some teams with Jonathan Taylor’s legs, some with Carson Wentz’s arm and a few with stellar defense. They added another formula for a victory Saturday night: sheer grit.

“We’ve got a ton of ways to beat you,” receiver T.Y. Hilton said. “You just pick the way you want to get beat.“

Wentz threw two touchdown passes, Taylor ran for 108 yards, and the bangedup Colts continued their late-season surge with a 22-16 win over the fading Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night.

The Colts (9-6) have won three straight. They got the road win despite missing 2020 All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard — who was put on the reserve/COVID-19 list earlier Saturday — and four starting offensive linemen.

Wentz made the game’s biggest play midway through the fourth quarter, when he bounced around in the pocket for a few seconds before hitting Dezmon Patmon for a 14-yard touchdown on a perfectly placed ball in the back of the end zone. That gave the Colts a 22-13 lead.

The Cardinals (10-5) failed to clinch a playoff spot for a third straight week and are 3-5 since starting the season 7-0. Kyler Murray threw for 245 yards and a score.

Arizona’s Matt Prater missed two field goals, including a potential go-ahead try early in the fourth quarter, and an extra point.

“We continue to find ways to lose, critical situations, penalties, things of that nature,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said.

Arizona grabbed a 13-12 lead early in the third when Murray hit Antoine Wesley for a 24-yard touchdown, the first of Wesley’s NFL career.

The Colts managed to cobble together a drive late in the third capped by a 37yard field goal for a 15-13 lead. Indianapolis caught a break a few minutes later in the fourth when Prater’s 41-yard field goal bounced off the right upright. That led to Wentz’s TD pass to Patmon.