MINNEAPOLIS — Before Saturday, the largest NFL comeback was a Bills/Oilers playoff game in 1992–that was 32 points. The Vikings broke that record by winning 39-36 in overtime against the Indianapolis Colts after being down 33.
WCCO’s Ren Clayton caught up with the Vikings on their most recent win.
“It’s unbelievable. I came in here and shed tears thinking about it. All of the things that we’ve been through, and to be down by 33 at half, and come back with this team, with that fight to go and win the game, it’s definitely something crazy to think about,” said wide receiver Adam Thielen.
Minnesota had no points until K.J. Osborn scored with 8-plus minutes left in the third — the start of a 36-3 run.
“This has just been a day. It’s been so crazy. But if that was the spark that we needed to get us going I was happy I was able to do that,” said defensive back, Chandon Sullivan.
The Vikings did not play perfect football down the stretch and had two Chandon Sullivan fumble recoveries for touchdowns called back by the refs. Wins heal all.
“I always thought we’d pull it off. We’ve been doing it all year,” said safety Harrison Smith.
The Vikings could have clinched the division with a tie, but that would have done the comeback a disservice.
“It was everything you would want. A game like this to win the division, you would want it to be that difficult, you wouldn’t want it to come easy,” said offensive lineman Brian O’Neill.
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver K.J. Osborn (17) celebrates with teammates Dalvin Cook (4) and T.J. Hockenson (87) after catching a 2-yard touchdown pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022, in Minneapolis.
Abbie Parr / AP
More from Associated Press: Comeback king Vikings set NFL rally record in win vs. Colts
With the Minnesota Vikings gathered in their humbled locker room at halftime in a huge hole, cornerback Patrick Peterson set the tone for an historic escape by promising his offensive teammates the defense would do its part to hold the Indianapolis Colts.
“You just need five touchdowns,” Peterson told them. “That’s nothing.”
This rally sure was something, though.
The Vikings completed the biggest comeback in NFL history, erasing a 33-point deficit by beating the Colts 39-36 on Greg Joseph’s 40-yard field goal with three seconds left in overtime Saturday to win the NFC North division in their typical dramatic fashion.
Kirk Cousins passed for 460 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Vikings (11-3), who trailed 36-7 late in the third quarter and became just the third team in league history to win 10 games in a season by eight points or fewer.
“We’re going to grind it out until they tell us there’s no more ball left to play,” coach Kevin O’Connell said.
The Colts (4-9-1) landed on the infamous side of this list, just ahead of the Houston Oilers in the 1992 postseason. They blew a 32-point lead (35-3) and lost to Buffalo (41-38) in overtime.
“When you have chances to put people away, we’ve got to do a better job than we’ve done up until this point,” quarterback Matt Ryan said.
According to Sportradar data available since 1930, the Vikings became only the second team in 1,551 regular-season or playoff games to trail by 30 or more points and still win.
“Nothing fazes us. We showed that in Buffalo,” said Peterson, who aided a 33-30 overtime victory over the Bills on Nov. 13 after a 17-point deficit. “We showed that again today.”
The Vikings took this rally all the way to their second possession of overtime. Cousins hit K.J. Osborn — who caught the first score and had a career-high 157 yards — for 15 yards. He found Adam Thielen — who had the second of three fourth-quarter touchdown passes — for 21 yards. Then he threw to Justin Jefferson for 13 yards to move into range.
Ifeadi Odenigbo was called for delay of game for lying on Jefferson to try to keep the Vikings from setting up for the kick, putting Joseph 5 yards closer for the winner.
“It’s a special group, a lot of fighters,” Thielen said.
Colts interim coach Jeff Saturday didn’t exactly get conservative in this collapse. Ryan was stopped short on a fourth-and-1 sneak at the Minnesota 36 with 2:19 left in regulation. Then Cousins hit Dalvin Cook for a 64-yard touchdown on a screen pass on the next play and T.J. Hockenson for the 2-point conversion to tie the game before the 2-minute warning.
“We would have closed the game out and ended the game,” Saturday said. “I’m in. Everybody’s in. We didn’t convert.”
Outscored 33-0 in the fourth quarter of their most recent game, a 54-19 loss to Dallas on Dec. 4, the Colts came back fresh from their bye week and stunned the Vikings with a 33-0 halftime lead that was the second-largest in the NFL this season. Cincinnati led Carolina 35-0 on Nov. 6.
The intermission deficit for Minnesota was the second-biggest in franchise history, behind a 45-10 score at Seattle in 2002.
The Vikings even overcame a pair of fumble returns for touchdowns by Chandon Sullivan that were wiped out by the whistle.
“I know that there’s other games that don’t end like that. It was just cool to see everybody battle back and I’m just happy that I get to share this moment with my teammates,” linebacker Eric Kendricks said, wiping away tears.
YOU LIKE THAT?
The last team to overcome a deficit of 24-plus points to win a regular season game was Washington over Tampa Bay in 2015, when Cousins was the quarterback. The previous regular season comeback record was 28 points in 1980, when San Francisco rallied from down 35-7 to win 38-35.
ALARMING START
The special teams units bore the brunt of the brutal start for the Vikings. Dallis Flowers returned the opening kickoff 49 yards, and the Colts were in scoring position within seconds.
Odenigbo plowed past two blockers and sideswiped Ryan Wright’s punt with his right arm. JoJo Domann caught the deflected ball and returned it 24 yards for the too-easy score and a 10-0 lead.
Then with the Vikings trailing 20-0 on fourth-and-1 from their own 31, Wright’s pass on a fake punt sailed over Jalen Nailor’s head for a second straight turnover on downs.
JEFFERSON WATCH
Jefferson left the game twice for brief examination following jarring hits to the chest. On the second occurrence, Stephon Gilmore also got him in the facemask and drew an unnecessary roughness penalty in the fourth quarter.
Both times after Jefferson left the game, Cousins threw to Jalen Reagor on the next play and was intercepted after an apparent miscommunication on the routes. The first one was returned by Julian Blackmon for a 17-yard touchdown that made it 30-0 in the second quarter.
Jefferson had 12 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown and raised his season total to 1,623 receiving yards. Calvin Johnson’s all-time record of 1,964 yards was set in 16 games in 2012.
INJURY REPORT
Colts: RB Jonathan Taylor (ankle) left the game on the opening drive after a hard tackle as he tumbled out of bounds. He missed three games with the injury earlier this season.
Vikings: LT Christian Darrisaw returned from a three-game absence for a concussion. He limped off twice in overtime with leg cramps. Peterson left briefly with the same problem.
UP NEXT
Colts: Host the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 26.
Vikings: Host the New York Giants on Dec. 24.
Ren Clayton
Ren Clayton grew up in Minneapolis as a true sports fanatic. He especially loves watching the Olympics, the Masters Tournament, and the World Series.
Andrew Luck finally opened up about what led to his abrupt NFL retirement and the regret he felt afterward.
The ex-Colts quarterback talked to ESPN’s Seth Wickersham for reflective piece that begins with the 2012 No. 1-overall pick in Indianapolis, where Luck has lived even after hanging up his cleats. It also expands and recounts moments from before, during, and after his final snap.
The story recounts Luck visiting Colorado’s Summit High School in August where a kid asked him what his biggest NFL regret was. Luck abruptly retired after a Colts preseason game in 2019 at the age of 29 and wish he could do it over.
“I regret the timing of when I retired,” he said.
Luck went on to say that he felt as though he let people down, a fear that followed his career. He called it quits after a productive 2018 season in which he threw 39 touchdown passes, led the Colts to the playoffs and won NL Comeback Player of the Year. Even still, he was in pain.
Halfway through the season, his foot and ankle became an injury issue. Instead of retiring right after the 2018 playoffs, Luck waited until August to make the call. The burly quarterback felt the timing of his retirement was not right, and insisted that prior injuries and other issues began to add up.
Andrew LuckGetty Images
After a labrum surgery cost him the entire 2017, Luck still felt as though his shoulder was weak. Rehab did not initially strengthen him, and after the Colts’ quarterback took a soul-searching trip to the Netherlands with trainer Willem Kramer, he felt more disconnected than ever from both his career and marriage.
“There were some things that when I looked in the mirror, I did not like about myself,” Luck told ESPN. “I was self-absorbed, withdrawn, in pain, and feeling pressure.”
His injuries and his desire to be consistently present for wife Nicole and daughter Lucy both ultimately played into Luck’s decision to leave the gridiron — choosing to be a father and husband over an NFL QB. The pressure that comes with being a No. 1 pick mounted as time went on, but was apparent even before the Stanford product arrived in the NFL.
Andrew Luck runs off the field.AP
He said the media attention leading up to the draft “made him want to break free of a story that felt written.” Though no one knows how Luck’s full story will conclude, we now know there came a time when his personal life became bigger than football.
“To play quarterback, you’re not allowed to worry about anything except the task at hand,” Luck said. “And that seeps into other areas of life. It’s not the healthiest way to live.”
The four-time Pro Bowler retired with 171 touchdowns, 2,3671 passing yards, a career completion percentage of 60.8 and regular-season record of 53-33.
As he flew back home to Los Angeles from Buffalo (with a quick stop in Detroit) on Sunday evening, Fox Sports game-caller Joe Davis reflected on the best NFL game he’s ever been part of as a broadcaster — a back-and-forth second half and overtime that saw Minnesota rally from a 17-point deficit to defeat Buffalo, 33-30, in overtime. The final two minutes of regulation included a Buffalo goal-line stand with 49 seconds left only to see Bills quarterback Josh Allen fumble the next snap and Minnesota recover for a touchdown for a 30-27 lead. The Bills then marched down the field for a game-tying field goal with two seconds left in regulation. After Minnesota settled for a field goal in overtime, the Vikings ultimately won it when cornerback Patrick Peterson picked off Allen in the end zone with 1:12 left.
“It was amazing in that it felt over four or five times only to swing back the other way,” Davis said from many miles above the ground. “In the span of about one minute of game time at the end of regulation, Buffalo lost the game, won the game, lost the game, and tied the game. Stunning play after stunning play. When you combined that with the environment in Buffalo and the anticipation that came with two division leaders playing, it’s gotta be the best NFL game I’ve done. It’s also on a short list of the best I’ve been lucky enough to do in any sport.”
As I noted below, the production crew, led by producer Pete Macheska and director Artie Kempner, really delivered late, including replays that helped amplify the insanity of the final stretch.
“The truck deserves complete credit for us being on top of the missed call near the end of regulation on the Gabe Davis catch,” Davis said. “(Analyst) Daryl (Johnston) and I are doing our best to stay on top of the next play with the game on the line, so in a situation like that when it’s ‘play on,’ that’s all those guys in the truck including our tape room and (rules analyst) Dean Blandino back in L.A. Pete was guiding us through telling that story while also focusing on the game-tying field goal that was coming.”
Davis said the day was also memorable for him for barely making his flight back home.
“The last improbable play of the day was our convoy leaving the stadium at 5:10 p.m. ET with 50,000 other people, traveling 20 minutes to the airport, and still somehow making a 5:55 p.m. ET flight,” Davis said. “Big thanks to the New York State Troopers and my dad. My dad is my spotter and was driving our getaway car.”
GO DEEPER
Justin Jefferson immense as Vikings outlast Bills in ‘craziest game I’ve been a part of’
Some additional Week 10 NFL media thoughts:
• It remains rare to see high-profile NFL analysts offer specific criticism of NFL owners — and pointed criticism of owners during a game broadcast comes at the same frequency as blood moons. But on Sunday, CBS “NFL Today” analyst Bill Cowher really dialed it up on Colts owner Jim Irsay’s decision to hire Jeff Saturday as his new head coach. Cowher gave an impassioned two-minute speech — with a ton of specific detail — that he says was the same one he gave during the show’s production meeting on Friday.
“It’s a disgrace to the coaching profession.”@CowherCBS’s emotional reaction to the Colts hiring Jeff Saturday. pic.twitter.com/B8QCSJZpPW
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 13, 2022
“It’s something that hits close to home, and I felt an obligation to speak on behalf of the coaching profession,” Cowher said on Sunday night. “I felt I needed to make a statement. Everyone (in the cast) was very respectful. Everyone had an opinion on it. But (“NFL Today” producer) Drew (Kaliski) was great about making that segment a little bit longer to allow some extra time. Being here for 16 years at CBS, the one thing I’ll say is they will give you the time to be able to express your thinking.
“Devin McCourty is here straight from the locker room,” Cowher continued. “Nate (Burleson) isn’t long from coming off the field. We have a great opportunity to get a cross-section of opinions on how this may or may not play out. But the bottom line is, I’m the one coach that’s up here. I spent five years as a player, seven years as an assistant coach, and 15 years as a head coach. I have great respect for the coaching profession and understand all the things that go on when people lose their jobs. It’s never easy, but it’s part of a profession we get into. But there’s certain ways of doing certain things and commitments that people make that when things are not done properly, it needs to be pointed out. Regardless of how this plays, it was a travesty in terms of how this unfolded.”
• Johnston called the final 120 seconds of regulation between the Bills and Vikings the most amazing two minutes of football he had ever seen. It wasn’t hyperbole. Macheska and Kempner really delivered. Even a small detail like seeing Minnesota receiver Justin Jefferson’s feet stay in bounds on a clutch overtime catch was great for viewers. Blandino nailed the replay of Buffalo’s Davis bobbling a key reception on the Bills’ game-tying drive and was clear that officials had erred by not reviewing it. “It’s too big a play not to stop it,” Blandino said. Good stuff.
• You want a broadcaster to live up to the big moments — and Davis did here:
VIKINGS TOUCHDOWN ON THE FUMBLED SNAP.
📺: #MINvsBUF on FOX 📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/uRjde5F169 pic.twitter.com/klfPeKakJQ
— NFL (@NFL) November 13, 2022
And also here:
PATRICK PETERSON ICES IT 🥶
THE VIKINGS WIN THE GAME OF THE YEAR.
🎥 @NFLpic.twitter.com/q4GitO1PA0
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) November 13, 2022
• I’m planning to do a podcast in the next couple of weeks that offers a top-down view of Amazon’s NFL coverage as it hits the three-quarter mark of the 2022 season. That’s usually a good time to weigh in with some perspective. Last week’s viewership for a game with little national appeal (Falcons–Panthers) averaged a season-low 6.80 million viewers. Sports Media Watch said it was the lowest-watched “Thursday Night Football” game since a Week 4 Broncos-Jets game in 2020. Amazon said its first-party measurement, which is proprietary to Amazon and would include alternative broadcasts and Twitch viewing, measured eight million viewers. The short answer is the game was a dog.
Amazon’s NFL broadcasts are averaging 9.65 million viewers through nine games per Nielsen, which is a couple of million lower than what they promised advertisers. (Amazon says they are averaging 11.4 million, according to Amazon’s first-party measurement.) I expect those numbers to go up with better games late in the season. Where Amazon has a good story to tell is in its demographics. The company says the median age of the TNF on Prime audience is 46 years old, which is eight years younger than the NFL average. Broadcasts are averaging 2.24 million viewers in the 18-34 demographic, which Amazon says is up 20 percent versus last year’s Thursday broadcasts on FOX, NFL Network and Prime Video (1.86 million).
• What is the ceiling for the NFL games in Europe when it comes to interest back in the States? The NFL Network drew 5.5 million viewers for the Giants–Packers game from London on Oct. 9. That’s the current viewership record for a Europe game — which is a little low for the NFL to really be satisfied. I watched some of Tampa Bay’s win over Seattle from Munich’s Allianz Arena — the open press box made the sound quality for viewers very challenging at times — which was the NFL’s first-ever regular season game in Germany. I’ll be curious to see the final viewership number. Our Greg Auman covered the game — and wrote a great preview piece — and said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell would not be surprised if the league expands from their initial commitment of four games in Germany in four years. The NFL says Germany has now surpassed Britain as the NFL’s largest market in Europe, and that was obvious from the atmosphere.
Related: Listen to the stadium sing “Take Me Home, Country Roads:”
Just watch the entire stadium at Allianz Arena singing to John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (very popular with the Oktoberfest crowd, I have learned) in the final two minutes pic.twitter.com/PwMUG2Z08n
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) November 13, 2022
• I asked Cowher what he thought of the final minutes of regulation and overtime in Bills-Vikings.
“I’ve never seen anything like the display that Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson put on,” Cowher said. “I feel the frustration that Josh Allen has had. We’ve watched the last couple of weeks Josh getting into the red zone and it reminds me a little bit where Patrick Mahomes was a year ago, that sometimes they get a little bit careless, try to do too much. Pulling back a little bit will be something Josh will be able to do. Those are two teams that have playmakers at the receiver position, playmakers at the quarterback position and their defenses are very good. These are playoff teams, and this is kind of murky waters that comes during the course of an NFL season. Everybody has to work through them. Sometimes it takes the depths of a valley to reach the heights of a mountain. Sometimes you have to get knocked down before you really get back up and stand straight.”
The Ink Report
1. “College GameDay” executives have always answered questions about the future of the show post-Lee Corso with thoughtfulness. Both on and off the record, they’ve been consistent about working around Corso’s desires, health and schedule given the realities of his age. You’ve never heard any leaks about ESPN management pursuing a replacement because no talks have ever gotten that far. Rather, they have always said the show will simply evolve whenever that time comes. Corso missed his third consecutive show this week — the expectation is that the 87-year-old analyst will return later this year — but the last couple of Saturdays, you saw a blueprint of how the show might close in a post-Corso universe. The realities of this time slot make it very important to have a strong draw to close the show — as Corso’s famous picking segment has been — because “GameDay” serves as a big lead-in into the noon ET game ESPN is broadcasting. The celebrity picker for “GameDay” — as long as it’s someone with broad appeal — gives the show its best attempt to keep an audience until they roll into the game broadcast asset of Corso’s famous head gear segment. It gives you options on whose voice should be the most profound when the show leaves the air. On Saturday, Corso technically made the last pick as relayed by Kirk Herbstreit. It was a good way to close, even though Corso went big on Texas over TCU.
1a. Episode 254 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with Sean Keeley, the editorial strategy director at Comeback Media and the creator of Nunes Magician. Last week Keeley wrote a piece, “What happens to sports media if Twitter dies?” and that’s the topic of our conversation. In this podcast, we discuss Sean’s piece with multiple sports media members and what they believed the impact of Twitter is; what the social media site’s ending would mean for them individually; the impact of Twitter on careers; the wave of impersonations, including Adam Schefter and LeBron James, on Twitter and what it means; the utility of sports Twitter; how advertisers see the product right now; how individual sports media people monetized a large Twitter following; what a Twitter alternative for sports might look like; whether any large sports media organization would direct its employees to leave the site and more.
You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more.
2. Episode 255 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with Deirdre Fenton, executive director of Unscripted at Meadowlark Media. In this podcast, Fenton discusses “Good Rivals,” a three-part docuseries (Fenton is the executive producer) on the rivalry between the Mexican and American national men’s soccer teams that debuts on Amazon Prime Video on Nov. 24; how Fenton defines her role at Meadowlark Media; the making of “Good Rivals” and the challenge of getting Mexican team players; what an executive producer does in totality; the Meadowlark/Skydance Sports upcoming documentary on Diana Taurasi; if women’s sports stories are an untapped market; the projects Meadowlark hopes to do heading forward; serving as a producer on the Academy Award-winning documentary “OJ: Made in America” and the BAFTA-winning “Hillsborough”; how a young person can get to a position like Fenton’s and more.
You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more.
3. Tim Bella, a Washington Post staff writer and editor, has published a biography of Charles Barkley, the Hall of Fame basketball player and longtime TNT NBA analyst. Bella said he thought Barkley was worthy of a book treatment exploration in 2022 because “you don’t see many people have a grip on that level of relevancy and respectability for as long as he’s had — especially not when they’ve been arrested multiple times, gotten into bar fights, throwing guys through windows, often sharing unpopular opinions, and come out the other side as well as he’s been able to do.”
Bella said he reached out to Barkley’s representatives but Barkley declined to take part in the book. I asked Bella what areas he would have focused on had Barkley agreed to sit down with him.
“If he would have agreed to speak, I would have mostly wanted to get into his upbringing in Leeds, Alabama, and his family life,” Bella said. “I would have wanted to talk about his mother, Charcey, and grandmother, Johnnie Mae, the women who made and raised him. All you see from Charles is because of them. I would have wanted to talk about his father, Frank, and how they took a strained, nonexistent relationship and were able to make peace with each other after years. Charles had a lot of anger toward his father for leaving him and Charcey when Chuck just turned 1. I would have asked about his brothers, especially his brother Darryl, whom he has often referred to when speaking on addiction. I would have wanted to talk about his wife, Maureen, and daughter, Christiana, both of whom he’s largely kept out of the spotlight. There are so many other topics I would have wanted to dig into — race, politics, Michael Jordan, his gambling and drinking, TNT — but family would have been the most important.”
3a. Rest in peace, Fred Hickman.
4.Sports pieces of note:
• SI’s Jon Wertheim on Robert Griffin III.
• The World Cup collision is coming to Qatar. The question is how hard will it hit? By Bruce Arthur of The Toronto Star.
• Via Bruce Feldman of The Athletic: Biff Poggi, Jim Harbaugh’s consigliere, is the most interesting man in coaching.
• Amazon’s silence on Kyrie Irving-publicized movie is pathetic. By Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.
• ESPN’s Doug Glanville wrote a poem for Dusty Baker.
• This was very good from CBS’ James Brown on hate and antisemitism.
• Gunshots shattered her hoop dreams. Now she wants them back. By David Gardner of The Washington Post.
• Jane Gross, Sportswriter Who Opened Locker Room Doors, Dies at 75. By Richard Sandomir of The New York Times.
Non-sports pieces of note:
• 44 indelible images from more than a century of Boston Globe photography. By Stan Grossfeld.
• FTX held less than $1 billion in liquid assets against $9 billion in liabilities. By Antoine Gare of Financial Times.
• The Crypto Ponzi Scheme Avenger. By David Segal of The New York Times.
• Two Weeks of Chaos: Inside Elon Musk’s Takeover of Twitter. By Kate Conger, Mike Isaac, Ryan Mac and Tiffany Hsu of The New York Times.
• How Tennessee Disenfranchised 21 Percent of Its Black Citizens. By Bianca Fortis of ProPublica.
• The Ferrari Fugitives. By Brett Popplewell for Toronto Life.
• She was a celebrated oncologist. Why did she hide her breast cancer until it was too late? By Jessica Bartlett of The Boston Globe.
• Why Elon Musk’s Quest to Revive Twitter Is Likely to Fail. By Christopher Mims of The Wall Street Journal.
• She decoded Nazi messages and helped win World War II. Now she’s 101. By Dave Kindy of The Washington Post.
• Years after brothers serve 20 years for rape they said they did not commit, judge tosses wrongful conviction. By Roy S. Johnson of Al.com.
• Elon Musk’s Twitter Is a Scammer’s Paradise. By Matt Burgess of Wired.
• We got Twitter ‘verified’ in minutes posing as a comedian and a senator. By Geoffrey Fowler of The Washington Post.
• U.S. intel report says key Gulf ally meddled in American politics. By John Hudson of The Washington Post.
Jim Irsay has placed his hands on the Colts’ personnel steering wheel at key junctures this year. Nine months after the owner insisted Carson Wentz be a Colts one-and-done, he led the way to Wentz’s replacement being benched.
Over the past few weeks, Irsay let Chris Ballard and Frank Reich know a change was needed at quarterback, Zak Keefer of The Athletic reports, noting Ballard was onboard with benching Matt Ryan for Sam Ehlinger before Reich reached that conclusion (subscription required).
Pointing out that the quarterback position provides an exception to Irsay’s policy of letting Ballard and Reich run the show, Keefer adds a Sunday-night meeting — similar to the Irsay-Ballard-Reich summit shortly after the Colts’ Week 18 meltdown in Jacksonville — led to the call to demote Ryan. Ryan’s sprained shoulder will sideline him in Week 8, but he will soon become a healthy backup for the first time since Boston College’s 2005 season. Ryan’s 12 turnovers — nine interceptions, three lost fumbles — lead the league.
Irsay’s prompting also comes months after he instructed Ballard to finalize the trade for Ryan, whom the Falcons dealt to the Colts for a 2022 third-round pick. Indianapolis went more than a week in between the Wentz and Ryan trades, discussing a deal with Jameis Winston during the days between those moves. But once the Falcons’ Deshaun Watson courtship commenced, the Ryan-to-Indy path formed.
The Colts have traded a first-rounder and two thirds to bring in their past two starting QBs, though they recouped considerable value by shipping Wentz to Washington this offseason. Indianapolis will now turn to a former sixth-round pick at the game’s marquee position.
Select scouts communicated to SI.com’s Albert Breer they believe Ryan’s arm is shot, and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio points to Ryan’s injury guarantees as the reason the Colts are moving away from him seven games in. The Colts restructured Ryan’s contract this offseason, ballooning his 2023 cap number to $35.2MM. Ryan will see $12MM guaranteed next year, but $7.2MM more would come via injury guarantees if the 37-year-old passer cannot pass a physical on Day 3 of the 2023 league year, Florio adds. Ryan’s $10MM 2023 roster bonus is also guaranteed for injury, leading to the Colts’ effort to bubble-wrap their initial 2022 starter.
The Colts continue to battle uphill in the years after Andrew Luck‘s August 2019 retirement. After acquiring Ryan, they joined the Broncos and Commanders in starting a sixth Week 1 quarterback in six years. Fewer than 10 teams have gone through that much QB1 turnover since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. Indianapolis will run that streak to seven next season. Only two post-merger teams — the Chargers from 1987-93 and Browns from 2013-19 — have trotted out different Week 1 starting QBs in seven straight years. Ehlinger, who has yet to throw a regular-season pass, will attempt to make his case to be that starter.
Indianapolis Colts running back Nyheim Hines was ruled out for the rest of Thursday’s game against the Denver Broncos and has a concussion, according to Colts head coach Frank Reich in his postgame press conference.
The hit took place during the first quarter when Colts quarterback Matt Ryan completed a pass to Hines for a 5-yard gain. After he was tackled, Hines had trouble getting back to his feet.
Video from the broadcast shows Hines getting hit in the back by another player and then hitting the turf. He was then seen on his feet and stumbling. Whistles were blown by referees to stop play, and Hines was then helped off the field.
CNN has reached out to the Colts for further information.
The incident with Hines comes as the NFL is facing increasing scrutiny of its concussion protocol after Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had to be taken off the field on a backboard and stretcher during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on September 29. The 24-year-old quarterback was sacked in the second quarter and laid motionless on the field for several minutes.
Video showed Tagovailoa’s forearms were flexed and his fingers contorted – a sign that CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon, said is a “fencing response” and can be linked to a brain injury.
Just four days prior in a game against the Buffalo Bills, Tagovailoa was knocked out of the game briefly in the second quarter after a hit by Bills linebacker Matt Milano forced the back of the Dolphins QB’s helmet to hit the turf. Tagovailoa stumbled as he stood up and was taken to the locker room for a concussion check. Milano was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty.
The Dolphins initially announced Tagovailoa was questionable to return to the game with a head injury, but he came back out onto the field in the third quarter and finished the game, throwing for 186 yards and a touchdown.
An investigation is now underway into the handling of Tagovailoa’s apparent head injury, while the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant who was involved in the quarterback’s first concussion evaluation is reportedly no longer working with the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA).
Week 4 of the NFL season is here, and teams continue to assess injuries to their players ahead of game time.
The San Francisco 49ers have suffered another blow to their offense, as star left tackle Trent Williams is expected to be out four to six weeks with an ankle injury. Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair will miss time after he sprained an MCL against the Denver Broncos. The New York Giants also lost a key offensive player after wide receiver Sterling Shepard tore an ACL against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday, ending his season.
The New England Patriots will be without quarterback Mac Jones, who suffered a high ankle sprain last week against the Baltimore Ravens. Veteran Brian Hoyer will start Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. He has lost 11 consecutive starts.
In more positive news, New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson is expected to make his 2022 debut against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Wilson has been out since the first game of the preseason because of a torn meniscus and a bone bruise in his right knee.
Our NFL Nation reporters have more updates on key players entering the weekend:
Quick links: Schedule | Depth charts | PickCenter
Injury: Knee
Patterson is officially listed as questionable on the team’s injury report, but he told ESPN on Friday that he plans on playing against the Cleveland Browns.
“I feel like I’m going to play every Sunday, no matter what the situation is,” Patterson said. “I plan on playing Sunday and we all know that’s the plan.”
Patterson, the NFL’s third-leading rusher, did not practice Wednesday or Thursday and was listed as a “resting player/knee.” He returned to practice Friday, did work on a limited basis and then was listed as questionable with a knee injury.
Coach Arthur Smith said Friday that Patterson “looked good,” but that he would assess Patterson’s status Saturday.
— Michael Rothstein
Injury: Ankle
Stanley, who is officially listed as questionable, said he’s “really close” to returning after missing 31 of the past 32 games. He was given a rest day Friday after fully practicing the previous two days. The Ravens could use the 2019 All-Pro left tackle to protect Lamar Jackson’s blind side. If Stanley can’t play, Baltimore would turn to rookie fourth-round pick Daniel Faalele to block Von Miller.
— Jamison Hensley
Injury: Quad
Barring a setback, McCaffrey should be able to go on Sunday after missing Wednesday and Thursday’s practices. McCaffrey returned to practice Friday in a limited role, and coach Matt Rhule said he was “hopeful” his star would be ready. McCaffrey gave no indication he wouldn’t be ready. “I feel great,” he said.
— David Newton
Injury: Knee
Let’s call this take two. It seemed like Gallup would make his debut last Monday against the New York Giants but he wanted some more time to feel right before coming back. He has had another week of full practices, although the Cowboys were not in pads at all this week. Gallup said he needed to clear a mental hurdle in coming back from the surgery. It appears he is trending toward playing vs. Washington, but he will work his way into the lineup on a snap count. They will not give him the full assortment of plays right away, so Noah Brown will continue as the No. 2 receiver with Gallup seeing something of a situational role. Tight end Dalton Schultz is also trending in the right direction of playing after missing the Giants game with a knee sprain. He has worn a brace in practice, and like Gallup, he might be limited in the number of snaps he plays until he is all the way back.
— Todd Archer
Injury: Groin
Patriots backup quarterback Brian Hoyer might have it a little easier if the Packers’ best coverage defensive back doesn’t play. Alexander dropped out of last week’s game at Tampa Bay, did not appear to do much in practice all week and is questionable for Sunday. Rasul Douglas moved from the slot to the outside after Alexander’s injury, and Keisean Nixon filled in in the slot.
— Rob Demovsky
Injury: Back
Leonard is listed as questionable for the first time this season after being ruled out in the previous three games. The recovery from Leonard’s offseason back surgery has lingered, but the tide turned this week.
“He’s had three pretty good days, continued to make progress,” coach Frank Reich said. “So, let’s see how he responds.”
If Leonard plays, the Colts might consider limiting his snaps. “The original thought was he would probably start out on a pitch count, but you don’t want to limit yourself. You just take it day by day and case by case and you kind of adapt as you go,” Reich said.
Injury: Elbow
Buckner is considered questionable and has been severely limited this week. But his history of playing while injured suggests that he’ll find a way to show up on Sunday. Buckner has missed just one game due to injury in his seven seasons.
Injury: Ankle
The Colts’ starting free safety will miss Sunday’s game with an ankle sprain, a development that will likely press seventh-round pick Rodney Thomas II into action. Thomas played well in last week’s game after Blackmon left the contest and impressed coaches.
— Stephen Holder
Injury: Hamstring
Allen suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1, was inactive in Week 2 and 3 and will remain on the sideline Sunday when the Chargers play the Texans. Earlier in the week, coach Brandon Staley expressed growing confidence that Allen would return in Week 4, but said Friday that the veteran receiver “felt something” during individual workouts, so he has been ruled out.
Indianapolis Colts Pro Bowl offensive lineman Quenton Nelson has agreed to a record-setting, four-year extension that will make him the highest-paid guard in NFL history, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The deal has an average annual value of $20 million and includes $60 million guaranteed, the source said. Indianapolis finished the deal Saturday night with Nelson’s agent, RJ Gonser of CAA.
Nelson, who was scheduled to make $13.8 million this season, was set to be one of the top free agents in the 2023 class. His deal shatters the previous record for most guaranteed money and annual salary for a guard.
Drafted sixth overall in the 2018 draft out of Notre Dame, Nelson had been an All-Pro guard in each of his first three seasons before missing four games this past year with an ankle injury.
Nelson’s 94.1% pass block win rate was 12th among guards last season, and his 71.7% run block win rate was 13th at the position. Overall, Nelson’s 94.6% pass block win rate since entering the NFL in 2018 ranks seventh among guards.
INDIANAPOLIS — Colts All-Pro linebacker Shaquille Leonard is one step closer to returning to the field after offseason back surgery.
The Colts on Tuesday activated Leonard from the physically unable to perform list as they submitted their moves to reach their initial 53-man roster, enabling Leonard to avoid remaining on the list into the regular season. Had Leonard not been activated on Tuesday, he would have been required to stay on the PUP list through at least Week 4 of the regular season.
Tuesday’s move was foreshadowed last week by Colts coach Frank Reich, who said the team preferred to have Leonard on its active roster at the season’s outset, if possible, because it would allow him to practice.
“From our standpoint, we really want to get him back out there when he’s [medically] cleared,” Reich said. “Even if he’s not ready to play, get him out there [practicing]. And you can’t get out there if you’re on PUP. You can’t participate in anything. So, we want to get him participating. At some point, even if he’s not ready to play, we have to get him off PUP.” Leonard was seen going through a workout with teammates prior to Saturday night’s preseason finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, another indicator that he is closer to returning.
Leonard’s status has been up in the air since June, when he underwent back surgery to address a nerve issue that was causing lower-body pain. The problem has been resolved, the Colts say, but Leonard has been rebuilding strength post-surgery.
The Colts open their season on Sept. 11 at the Houston Texans.
Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza lived up to his nickname by unleashing an 82-yard kick Saturday against the Colts during Buffalo’s first preseason game.
The kick, which occurred in the waning seconds of the second quarter, went from near Buffalo’s 10-yard line to bouncing into Indianapolis’ end zone.
Bills rookie Matt Araiza booted a massive 82-yard punt that went into the Colts’ end zone.FOX
The 2022 sixth-round pick gained his godly punting reputation while playing at San Diego State by producing massive punts which could stretch entire football fields – sort of like Saturday’s kick.
For his punting prowess, Araiza won the 2021 Ray Guy Award for averaging a historical 51.2 yards a punt.
WESTFIELD, Ind. — The name Darius Leonard has become synonymous with defensive playmaking in the NFL.
But the Indianapolis Colts All-Pro linebacker no longer wants to be referred to by that name.
When Leonard reported to training camp Tuesday, he asked reporters to call him Shaquille, which is his middle name and the name most people in his life use to refer to him.
“I went by Shaquille my whole life,” Leonard said. “My mom called me Shaquille, my family called me Shaquille, my friends and family called me Shaquille. I only went by Darius in school or if I was in trouble. Once I got to the NFL, that’s when people started calling me Darius. I hate it, but coming in as a rookie, I figured they didn’t want a rookie coming in saying to call him a different name. So, I just went with it.”
Even after winning Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2018, Leonard didn’t speak up about his wishes. Now, as he begins his fifth season, he finally is making his position known.
“Coming into my rookie year, talking to [Hall of Fame wide receiver] Randy Moss, he said the best advice he could give me was to keep your mouth closed and your ears and eyes open,” Leonard said. “So, I came in and worked. I didn’t want to come in and be treated special. If they called me Darius Leonard, I mean, that is my name. That’s just what I went [by]. I didn’t want to cause any problems.
“But I love being called Shaquille and hate being called Darius. I understand it’s going to be hard, but I would love if y’all would try to call me Shaquille or ‘D’ or ‘Maniac’ and not Darius.”
Leonard begins camp on the physically unable to perform list after undergoing back surgery in June. He elaborated for the first time on his condition, explaining that two disks in his back were impinging on two nerves and, consequently, causing lower-leg pain. The team had been searching in vain for the source of that pain before ultimately discovering the nerve issue, Leonard said.
Leonard underwent ankle surgery during the 2021 offseason to address “calcification” in the joint, he said. When pain persisted throughout the season, Leonard was left to play hurt.
Now, though, he’s already feeling relief and is optimistic about the eventual outcome.
“Now we’ve found the source of the whole problem,” Leonard said, “and we’ll be ready to rock and roll.”
