Luck rallies streaking Colts past Dolphins
Indy now tied for 2nd AFC wild card
INDIANAPOLIS – The Dolphins learned a lesson the rest of the NFL is already well aware of on Sunday. Andrew Luck can always come back. After an unbelievable third-down conversion from Andrew Luck to Chester Rogers, Adam Vinatieiri kicked a 32yard field goal to give the Colts a 27-24 win over a playoff team and extend their winning streak to five.
From the moment Luck arrived in Indianapolis, he’s made it clear there is just about no deficit where he can’t come back. Seven fourth-quarter comebacks. The playoff game against the Chiefs.
Luck did it again on Sunday. Faced with a 24-14 deficit in the fourth quarter and leading a team that had played sloppy football throughout, Luck directed three consecutive scoring drives, finding Eric Ebron for the tying touchdown and then improbably scrambling out of trouble to find Rogers for a 34-yard gain on third-and-8 to set up the winning score by Vinatieri.
Luck’s resilience at this point is the stuff of legend. From injury, from mistake, and he shook off two interceptions and a couple of hard hits on Sunday to beat Miami and leave the Colts tied for the sixth and final AFC playoff spot.
For Luck, this was his 20th comeback win.
❚ Steelers’ streak ends: One week after his critical late interception was erased, Ben Roethlisberger wouldn’t get another do-over for Pittsburgh on Sunday.
The veteran quarterback was facing a third-and-goal from the Broncos’ 2-yard line with the Steelers down 24-17 and looking for the tying score. Roethlisberger faked the handoff to running back James Conner before throwing a pass seemingly intended for wide re- ceiver Antonio Brown. But defensive tackle Shelby Harris faded back after Roethlisberger’s release to haul in the interception with 1:03 remaining. The Broncos kneeled to secure the victory and snap Pittsburgh’s six-game winning streak.
The loss dropped the Steelers (7-3-1) from the No. 2 seed in the AFC to the No. 4 seed, as both the Patriots (8-3) and Texans (7-3) moved up.
Roethlisberger finished with 462 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions on 41 of 56 passing.
In the previous week, Roethlisberger had a last-minute interception called back when Jaguars cornerback D.J. Hayden was called for a face-mask penalty. Roethlisberger scored on a 1-yard touchdown run two plays later to give the Steelers a 20-16 win.
❚ Rivers and records: Philip Rivers’ pinpoint passing Sunday earned him a place in NFL history in multiple categories.
The Chargers quarterback tied the league record for consecutive completions in a 45-10 rout of the Cardinals, finishing even with Dolphins passer Ryan Tannehill’s previous mark of 25. Tannehill’s streak, however, was compiled over the course of two games in
2015.
By finishing the day with 28 completions on 29 attempts, Rivers broke the single-game completion rate record (minimum of 20 attempts) with a 96.55 percent rate, surpassing the 94.7 percent set by Tannehill and Alex Smith.
Rivers also shattered the record of most consecutive completions to start a game with 22, previously held by Mark Brunell and Derek Carr.
The 15th-year veteran tied the record for consecutive completions in a game in the third quarter on a 4-yard scoring strike to Keenan Allen for his third touchdown of the day. He was pressured on the first play of the ensuing drive, and his 26th pass of the day fell incomplete.
Rivers was pulled at the end of the third quarter.