Awful Start Dooms Patriots, Comeback Bid Falls Short In Loss To Colts
BOSTON (CBS) -- The seven-game winning streak is no more. The New England Patriots have lost a football game.
The Patriots entered Indianapolis on Saturday night well-rested and riding high, but they were quickly brought down to earth by the Colts. Indy got out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead, thanks to a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown.
The Patriots made it moderately interesting in the fourth quarter, cutting Indy's lead to 20-17. But a 67-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Taylor stretched the lead to 10, and the Colts won 27-17.
The Patriots dropped to 9-5, while the Colts improved to 8-6.
Mac Jones was 26-for-45 for 299 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Carson Wentz was just 5-for-12 for 57 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
The Colts' first score came on a 78-yard drive, which featured seven straight runs for 70 yards to start the drive. The touchdown play was technically a pass, but it was for all intents and purposes another run from the NFL's best rushing team:
The Colts then stopped the Patriots, forcing a punt. Matthew Adams burst through the line and was able to block Jake Bailey's kick, with E.J. Speed recovering it in the end zone for a touchdown.
The Patriots held the Colts to a field goal on their next drive, and looked poised to get on the scoreboard before halftime to cut into that lead. But Jones threw an ugly interception to Darius Leonard deep in Colts territory to keep that score at zero.
Coming out of halftime, Jones threw another interception.
Michael Badgley missed a 46-yard field goal after that, but Brandon King was penalized for being offside on the kick. Badgley nailed his second chance, stretching the lead to 20-0.
The Patriots finally got on the board on the first play of the fourth quarter, with Jones hitting Hunter Henry for a 12-yard touchdown.
Henry came up with an eight-yard reception on a desperation throw across the field by Jones on a third-and-4.
After cutting the lead to 20-7, Devin McCourty kept the momentum rolling for the Patriots by picking off a pass after Jamie Collins tipped it over the middle.
Jones converted a fourth-and-1 on the ensuing drive with a completion to Jakobi Meyers for a gain of 10 yards, followed by an 18-yard end-around by Kendrick Bourne. A false start on Mike Onwenu at the 2-yard line, though, pushed the Patriots back, and they had to settle for a field goal after a third-down incompletion, cutting the lead to 20-10.
The Colts then went on a long drive, draining more than five minutes off the clock, but ended up punting back to New England.
Jones connected with N'Keal Harry for a 43-yard gain, and he hit Henry for another touchdown to cut the lead to 20-17.
The touchdown was Henry's ninth of the year, setting a new single-season career high for the tight end.
Bill Belichick elected to kick it deep instead of going for the onside, with the Patriots having just one timeout (plus the two-minute warning) and needing a stop. Jonathan Taylor, through, ended the Patriots' dreams of a comeback by breaking free for a 67-yard touchdown run before the two-minute warning.
The touchdown gave Indy a 10-point lead with 2:01 left in the game. Jones threw incomplete on a fourth-and-10 with 1:10 left, and that sealed the game.
The Patriots are back in action next Sunday at home against the Bills.
