Soldier Field - Chicago, IL
| Indianapolis Colts at Chicago Bears | |||||
| Sep 18, 2016 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Indianapolis Colts (2-1, 1-0 Away) | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| Chicago Bears (2-1, 1-1 Home) | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 | |
Top Performers
Passing : A. Luck (IND) - 404YDS, TD
Rushing : M. Forte (CHI) - 19CAR, 135YDS, TD
Receiving : T.Y. Hilton (IND) - 14REC, 143YDS, TD
CHICAGO - Heavy winds coming off Lake Michigan made today's game interesting, but not as interesting as the early season struggles for the Colts. Indianapolis headed into a hostile environment to play a team armed with one of their weaknesses; elite receiving HB. Things would look bleak as late as the final 2:00 of the game, but the offense and defense would step up to pull this one out.
The best Indianapolis could do in the 1st quarter was two field goals in the swirling winds, and boy were they glad they took the points. It didn't take long for Indianapolis to see they were going to have problems with Matt Forte, who was an immediate match up nightmare in passing situations. Things tipped Indianapolis' way when a goal line stand forced the Bears into a 26 yard FG attempt.
Chicago came right back with another scoring drive, this time a 2 yard TD run on 3rd & 2 from the 2, and then Cecil Shorts III fumbled away with ball with just 2:10 to play in the 1st half. Even though the Bears got the ball on the Indianapolis 49 yard line, they went three-and-out to give the Colts a chance. Andrew Luck stepped up to lead a seven play 78 yard drive in just 1:30 for a Shayn Ramsey 1 yard TD run. With the score just 13-10, and Forte causing serious problems, the second half would be close.
The 3rd quarter did not start or end well for the Colts. Forte broke off a 48 yard TD run to give Chicago the lead, and T.Y. Hilton would leave the game during the next drive with an ankle injury. Hilton would come back on the next possession to catch a short TD and give the Colts the lead again, but the Bears would stun Indianapolis by converting a 4th & 3 with a fake punt.
The Bears' fake punt rolled into a possession that lasted into the 4th quarter and ended with a 7 yard TD pass to Forte on a screen pass. The Colts just didn't have an answer for Forte and the Bears used him so well when Vontaze Burfict or Bjoern Werner were sent on blitzes. Josh Freeman seemed to have an emergency escape button in the shape of Forte whenever the pass rush got to him, and the draw play was killer whenever Indianapolis came out in a Dime or Nickel defense.
Forte was a nearly unstoppable force.
Despite everything that happened, the Colts came up big and showed why they won it all last year. A dominating drive ended with a 24 yard TD run by Ramsey to give the Colts a 27-24 lead, and then a three-and-out possession by Chicago gave the Colts another chance. Indianapolis tried to run out the clock, but found themselves looking at a long 4th down or a 42 yard FG try. Coach Pagano sent out the kicking team, but Taylor Reyes couldn't handle the wind and the ball went wide right and short to give the Bears the ball back on their own 27 with 1:52 left to play. The Bears drove down the field, but Freeman found Colts FS Branch Daniels for his second INT of the game which gave Indianapolis the ball back with 0:39 left to play. A kneel down later and the Colts escaped with a win.
Even though he only threw one TD pass, the game ball goes to Luck. Luck went into halftime 11/24 for 200 yards, but came out in the second half and burned down the Bears secondary with a 22/25 204 yard performance that helped set up the win. The Colts also finished with three 100+ yard receiver in Hilton (143), Da'Rick Rogers (122), and the oft-injured Shorts (108) while limiting the Bears' Brandon Marshall to only 58 yards on 5 catches.
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