Prior to the Colts' game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, both teams had some shakeups to their rosters. The Cardinals announced starting quarterback Kyler Murray as inactive with a foot injury and the Colts ruled out cornerback Charvarius Ward Sr. with a concussion sustained during pregame warmups.
Ward's injury hurt an already depleted cornerback room, as Kenny Moore II was once again inactive with an Achilles injury.
But despite the sudden changes to the roster, the Colts held strong and battled back amid fourth-quarter ties and lead changes to win 31-27.
Electing to receive to start the game, Daniel Jones did what he's done all season as he clinically led the Colts down the field to the end zone. Wide receiver Josh Downs was consistently targeted on the drive, with three receptions for 25 yards.
But it was tight end Tyler Warren who made the biggest impact to start the game, getting open for a 23-yard reception to put the Colts in the red zone, following that up with a six-yard run and, finally, tricking the Cardinals defense to score an easy touchdown.
Then, thanks to a massive quarterback hit on a blitz by linebacker Austin Ajiake, the Colts quickly forced a Cardinals punt the ball away. But after the Colts went three-and-out, the Cardinals were able to take advantage of the Colts' secondary and march down the field for a touchdown of their own to even up the score.
A poor decision by Jones a few drives later led to an interception that placed the Cardinals on the Colts' 27-yard line, putting Arizona's backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett in position to take the lead. But two plays later, the Colts secondary came through as cornerback Mekhi Blackmon picked off Brissett and put the ball right back in Jones' hands.
Blackmon's interception marked his second in as many games.
Jones and his offense quickly capitalized on that momentum, getting downfield thanks to a 16-yard completion to tight end Mo Alie-Cox and a series of forceful runs from running back Jonathan Taylor – including a 30-yard run with guard Quenton Nelson blocking from him and leading the way.
Jones was the one to bring the ball across the goal line this time, escaping the pocket and choosing to run the ball in himself. The touchdown was Jones' fourth rushing touchdown of the season.
As halftime neared, the Colts pass rush – which had pressured Brissett regularly throughout the half – finally broke through for their first sack of the game, courtesy of defensive end Kwity Paye. The third-down sack, for a loss of eight yards, forced the Cardinals to kick a 40-yard field goal, and the Colts would take their 14-10 lead into halftime.
The Cardinals struck first in the third quarter, taking the lead on a 10-play, 61 yard drive in which the Colts secondary once again found themselves struggling to keep up with the Cardinals receivers. The Colts were able to even the score with a 45-yard field goal from kicker Michael Badgley – who was signed following Spencer Shrader's season-ending injury in Week 5 – but the Cardinals just as quickly found their way back into the end zone to go up 24-17 with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter.
On the Colts' following possession, a 13-yard pass to Warren followed by a stellar 26-yard completion to Pierce (in which Jones placed the pass just over the hands of two defenders) brought the Colts into the red zone. Then, once again showing off his pinpoint accuracy, Jones threaded a pass in between multiple defenders in the end zone to find Downs for the touchdown – the wide receiver's first of the season.
The Cardinals inched their way down the field amid a flurry of penalties, ultimately settling for a 44-yard field goal after a crucial quarterback hit by defensive tackle Adetomiwa Adebawore. That was the Colts' 11th quarterback hit of the afternoon.
A 22-yard completion to Pierce and a 15-yard penalty on the Cardinals quickly moved the Colts to Arizona's 29-yard line on their following possession; from there, Jones once again turned to Taylor to inch the Colts closer to the end zone. The distribution of wealth continued as well, with Taylor being the one to dart across the goal line for his seventh touchdown of the season.
And while the Cardinals continued to pick apart the Colts' struggling secondary, the defense rallied to sack Brissett in the red zone; the Cardinals elected to go for it on 4th and 7 on the Colts' nine yard line, but a quarterback hit by defensive end Laiatu Latu forced an incompletion.
With the turnover on downs and 53 seconds left on the clock, the Colts opted to hand the ball off to Taylor and run the clock down. With the victory, the Colts improved to 5-1 on the season.
