By Dean Michaels, NFL Writer
Trailing 38-10 early in the third quarter, Andrew Luck rallied the Colts from the four-TD deficit to push the Indianapolis Colts to a 45-44 comeback victory over the Kansas City Chiefs Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
After doing everything right in the first 32 minutes, the Chiefs would only muster two field goals in the last 28 minutes of the game.
Luck finished 29 of 45 for 443 yards, four TD passes and three interceptions. Luck also recovered a fumble and ran it in for a 4-yard touchdown. T.Y. Hilton finished with 13 receptions for two TDs and a Colts playoff-record 224 receiving yards.
Luck's game-winning TD pass was a 64-yard bomb to Hilton with 4:29 to play. Hilton sliced through and wound up open behind two Chiefs defensive backs. Hilton caught the pass in stride for the eventual game-winning touchdown.
The Chiefs put themselves in position for the victory with 1:55 to play when Alex Smith connected with Dwayne Bowe down the right sideline on fourth-and-11, But, Bowe was unable to get both feet inbounds and was ruled out of bounds.
Luck's first career playoff victory is the second largest come from behind victory in NFL playoff history. The victory sends Indianapolis (12-5) to either Denver or New England next weekend for the divisional round.
Alex Smith was 30 of 46 for a franchise playoff-record 378 yards and four TDs with no interceptions on a day he lost his top two running backs, Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis, and starting receiver Donnie Avery to injuries.
Charles suffered a concussion on opening drive. He got hit hard and stayed down on the field, face first, for a few moments.
Avery left in the third quarter also with a concusssion, though it's unclear when the injury occurred.
Davis injured his left knee after he was hit in the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs (11-6) finished its turnaround season with three straight losses. The Chiefs have now suffered an NFL-record eight consecutive playoff losses.
Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali: "Outplayed. It's hard. We're a good team. We play our hearts out, get leads like that. We lost our edge."
Number 1's
Former No. 1 overall picks in the NFL Draft -- Indianapolis' Andrew Luck and Kansas City's Alex Smith -- started as opposing quarterbacks on Wild Card Weekend, marking the fifth time in postseason history that each team's starting quarterback was a former first overall selection.
The playoff games featuring opposing quarterbacks who were first overall selections:
Season | Round | Matchuo | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Source: NFL | |||
2013 | Wild Card | Andrew Luck (IND) vs Alex Smith (KC) | IND defeats KC 45-44 |
2011 | NFC Championship | Alex Smith (SF) vs Eli Manning (NYG) | NYG defeats SF 20-17 (OT) |
1999 | Wild Card | Jeff George (MIN) vs Troy Aikman (DAL) | MIN defeats DAL 27-10 |
1998 | AFC Championship | John Elway (DEN) vs Vinny Testaverde (NYJ) | DEN defeated NYJ 23-10 |
1994 | Wild Card | Vinny Testaverde (CLE) vs Drew Bledsoe (NE) | CLE defeats NE 20-13 |
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AFC Wild-Card Playoff Round - Colts Post Comeback Win Over Wounded Chiefs