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Matt Ryan kept the faith Sunday.
As the 37-year-old quarterback looked around the huddle, he sensed his Indianapolis Colts teammates would find a way to make some big plays late. Eventually, with a little help from the Kansas City defense, they did.
Ryan capped a masterfully managed final drive by finding rookie Jelani Woods on a 12-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds left for a 20-17 comeback win over the Chiefs. It was Ryan’s first victory with the Colts — sealed by Rodney McLeod Jr.’s interception with 2 seconds to go.
“Sometimes you have a game where it’s just not right and you have to tighten things up, but you can’t be uptight,” Ryan said, referring to last week’s shutout loss at Jacksonville. “You have to be loose enough to believe we’re going to make these plays.”
While this one certainly wasn’t pretty and, at times, was downright ugly, the Colts (1-1-1) still managed to snap a four-game winless streak that dated to last season’s final two games. Indy looked listless in all four.
This time, the defense stymied Patrick Mahomes & Co., giving up just a field goal in the second half and two touchdowns following turnovers in Colts territory. The offense, meanwhile, did just enough to take advantage of some uncharacteristic Chiefs miscues.
And when it mattered most, Ryan was at his best. He finished 27 of 37 for 222 yards despite getting sacked five times and losing two fumbles. And he found Woods twice for touchdowns. The first gave Indy its first lead of the season and the second one, wrestled away by Woods, gave Indy the win.
