The Indianapolis Colts, winners of 10 out of their last 11, traveled to snowy Kansas City to take on the Chiefs. The matchup featured two of the top quarterbacks in the league this year, the resurgent Andrew Luck and MVP favorite Patrick Mahomes.
The weather was a major storyline heading into the game, with snow falling throughout. The snow didn’t seem to bother the red-hot Chiefs, who scored two early touchdowns by Tyreek Hill and Damien Williams gave them an early 14-0 lead.
The Chiefs added a field goal to extend the lead to 17 before a blocked punt by the Colts was recovered by Indy in the end zone to make it 17-7. Mahomes added a rushing TD and the ageless Adam Vinatieri missed a chip shot to make the score 24-7 at the break.
The third quarter was relatively uneventful, but two fumbles in three plays, one by each team caused twin turnovers deep in the Chiefs zone.
The Chiefs defense was the story of the day, and it continued to limit Luck and the Colts offense in the fourth. Bob Sutton’s group had been shredded throughout the year by both opposing offenses and fans, but today they were dominant for the majority of the game.
The Colts scored a touchdown with just over five to play, on a sweet catch by T.Y. Hilton. But a gift flag for the Chiefs spurred them on to a late touchdown to seal the 31-13 win.
The Colts managed to make it to the divisional round despite a largely unknown cast, and are expected to be major players in both free agency and the trade market with players like Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown.
As for the Chiefs, they have now won their first home playoff game since 1994. They await the winner of Sunday’s matchup between the Los Angeles Chargers and the New England Patriots.
