Colts rush for 3 TDs as struggling defense slows Bears offense for a 21-16 victory

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jonathan Taylor used his sheer strength — and a nimble cut — to give the Indianapolis Colts the jump-start they needed Sunday.

Quarterback Anthony Richardson gave provided a perfectly timed push, too.

Taylor scored twice and topped the 100-yard mark for the second straight week and Richardson helped Trey Sermon get across the goal line as the Colts held on for a 21-16 victory over the Chicago Bears.

“It’s a lot (of momentum), especially being here (at home). All we needed is one,” Taylor said after the Colts avoided their first 0-3 start since 2021. “It was a great opportunity to get going and now we’ve got to continue to build on this.”

With Taylor leading the way, Indy (1-2) certainly could get back on track quickly.

The 2021 NFL rushing champ finished with 23 carries for 110 yards, giving Indy a 7-0 lead on his nifty 29-yard scoring run against a usually stingy defense before sealing it with a 1-yard TD run with 5:21 left.

It wasn’t just Taylor, though.

On a day Richardson struggled again, the Colts’ much maligned defense managed to limit Chicago to just 63 yards rushing, forced three turnovers, sacked rookie Caleb Williams four times and made a crucial goal-line stand late in the first half.

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“That stop was big,” Colts coach Shane Steichen said. “I mean, any time you get those big stops down in the tight red zone like we did, the momentum swings a little bit there. Obviously, they (the defense) played a helluva game there.”

For the Bears’ offense, it was another tough day for Williams, the No. 1 overall draft pick.

While he threw the first two TD passes of his NFL career, giving Chicago’s offense one more TD score than it had through the first weeks, Williams was again under constant duress.

He finished 33 of 52 with 363 — all career bests — but threw two interceptions and lost a fumble on a strip-sack that led to Taylor’s 1-yard TD run, which essentially sealed the game. And he was running again when a 2-point conversion pass that could have cut the deficit to three fell incomplete midway through the fourth quarter.

“This is not who we want to be,” tight end Cole Kmet said after matching a career best with 10 receptions for 97 yards. “There were definitely some good things that happened for us. But at the end of the day, it’s about winning football games.”

Neither team looked terribly good, though.

Chicago and Indy combined for just 71 total yards in the first quarter, five turnovers overall, and the league’s two youngest starting quarterbacks each wound up with passer ratings below 81. Richardson was 10 of 20 passes for 167 yards with two more interceptions.

And even though Indy had only 15 first downs, Richardson and the Colts still did enough to win.

Taylor’s 29-yard second-quarter burst produced the game’s only first-half points, before Chicago finally broke through with a 53-yard field goal to open the second half.

The Colts extended the lead to 14-3 when Richardson and his offensive linemen shoved Sermon across the goal line with 21 seconds left in the third quarter.

Williams’ 1-yard TD pass to Rome Odunze cut the deficit to 14-9.

But rookie defensive end Laiatu Latu jarred the ball loose from Williams on a sack, which led to Taylor’s powerful run to close it out.

All the Bears could muster after that was Williams’ 6-yard TD pass to Kmet with 2:01 left.

“We left one out there (Sunday),” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “We’re encouraged and there’s a lot of positivity in our locker room. We’ll look ahead and each guy needs to ask himself how he can get better execution-wise to start getting victories.”

Odunze, taken eight picks after Williams, finished with six catches and a season-high 112 yards.

Close call

Williams nearly got his first TD pass on the final play of the first half when his heave to the end zone was batted by Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones. DJ Moore alertly caught the pass near the goal line.

But Colts safety Julian Blackmon and linebacker E.J. Speed tackled Moore at the 1 to preserve the 7-0 lead.

Injury report

Bears: Right guard Nate Davis (groin) and receiver Keenan Allen (heel) were not active and Chicago suffered a brief scare when left tackle Braxton Jones (right leg) left briefly in the first half. He later returned. ... CB Terell Smith (hip) did not return and WR DJ Moore appeared to get hurt during a late-game collision with Colts CB Kenny Moore II.

Colts: Indy’s battered defense took two more potential shots late in the game. Moore left with a hip injury and DE Kwity Paye injured a quadriceps. Neither returned.

Up next

Bears: Host the Los Angeles Rams next Sunday, the first of back-to-back home games.

Colts: Stay in Indy to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday.

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