A week after a season-opening loss left a bad taste in the mouth of the Indianapolis Colts, they bounced back with a win in their home opener at Lucas Oil Stadium Sunday.
The Colts knocked off the Minnesota Viking 28-11 on the heels of a hundred-yard rushing game by rookie running back Jonathan Taylor.
“I played twice here (Lucas Oil Stadium) in college. Finally getting a win in Lucas Oil, that feels good,” Taylor said. “It just felt good coming in here especially after last week, having that bad taste in my mouth, being able to come in in the home opener, and take care of business.”
Taylor, assuming the feature-back role with Marlon Mack out for the year, ended the day with 26 carries for 101 yards rushing along with a touchdown.
Veteran quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 214 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. That interception came as tight end Mo-Alie Cox dropped a pass which ended up in the hands of a Vikings defender.
“I kind of lost it,” Cox said of the dropped pass. “When I turned, I couldn’t really see it at first, and by the time I found it, it was already on me, and the defender just made a great play. Coming back from it – just flush it down the toilet. We moved the ball that drive, it was just a bad play.”
Cox responded by catching five subsequent passes for 111 yards. The Colts defense held a stout Vikings offense to just 80 yards on the ground and 151 yards through the air. The also picked off Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins three times.
“We talked about it all week,” said defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who had 1.5 sacks in the game. “On the front side we needed to set the edges and the backside needed to stay alive, close and that’s what we did all game.”
“I don’t know if you can play much better than we played defensively,” said Colts head coach Frank Reich. “Our defense kept the pressure on them. We stopped the run. We had turnovers. We made the statement we wanted to make defensively.”
Rookie kicker Rodrigo Blankenship nailed four field goals, his longest from 44-yards out, and two extra points.
The Colts have the New York Jets at home next Sunday.
