The Indianapolis Colts grinded out a gritty 12-9 overtime win on the road against the Denver Broncos on Thursday night, with neither team scoring a touchdown in the game.
In an ugly offensive showing, the teams combined for 12 punts, six fumbles and four interceptions, heading into halftime with a 6-3 Broncos lead thanks to a pair of Brandon McManus field goals.
The Broncos had a chance to run out the clock and ice the game, but instead called a pass play, with quarterback Russell Wilson throwing his second interception of the game to keep the Colts alive.
They would march down the field for a Chase McLaughlin field goal with five seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 9-9 and force overtime, and he would kick his fourth field goal of the night in overtime to take the lead.
Needing a field goal to extend the game or a touchdown to win it, the Broncos finally mounted a strong drive with long completions to Melvin Gordon and Jerry Jeudy to move into the redzone. When presented with a fourth-and-one on the five-yard line, they went for it instead of kicking another field goal to tie, and failed to convert a pass into the endzone.
It was a miserable day for both quarterbacks as their offensive lines struggled to keep them upright, with the Broncos sacking Matt Ryan six times while Wilson absorbed four sacks of his own. Ryan finished up completing 26 of 41 passes for 251 yards and two interceptions, while Wilson completed 21 of 39 for 274 yards and two interceptions.
Defensively, Caden Sterns had both interceptions for the Broncos, while teammate Bradley Chubb had two-and-a-half sacks, but Colts cornerback and former Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore proved to be the game-winner.
Gilmore secured the crucial interception to give the Colts a chance, and was then credited with his second pass break-up on the final play of the game to deny the Broncos the winning touchdown.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott reportedly expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury
The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The severity of the injury was determined following an MRI, and reported Monday from multiple media outlets.
Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.
The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.
They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.
Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.
In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.
There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury
The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The severity of the injury was determined Monday following an MRI.
Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.
The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.
They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.
Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.
In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.
There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.
Stumbling Saints fire head coach Allen
The New Orleans Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen on Monday, one day after the team’s losing streak reached seven games with a 23-22 defeat to the lowly Carolina Panthers.
New Orleans got off to an unexpected strong start to the 2024 season by outscoring its first two opponents 91-29 in a pair of victories.
The Saints lost their next two games by just a combined five points, but then it really started to unravel for the team.
New Orleans’ next four defeats all came by 13 points or more, and on Sunday, the Panthers pulled out a 23-22 win over the Saints after Carolina entered the meeting with a 1-7 record.
Allen was promoted from New Orleans' defensive coordinator to head coach after the 2021 season, and the Saints posted an 18-25 record under him with no play-off appearances.
The Saints (2-7) are expected to name special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi as interim head coach ahead of their Week 10 visit from the NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons (6-3).
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