AFC: Indianapolis Colts 45, Kansas City Chiefs 44 A 28-point second half lead was not enough for Kansas City to break their 20-year playoff win drought. Trailing 38–10 a few minutes into the third quarter, Indianapolis scored 35 second half points for the second biggest comeback victory in NFL postseason history, behind only the Buffalo Bills' 32-point comeback in the 41–38 Wild Card game win against the Houston Oilers in 1992.[2] The game got off to a rough start for the Chiefs, as starting running back Jamaal Charles was knocked out of the game on the opening drive. But before this, he rushed three times for 18 yards as the team drove 84 yards in 14 plays. Quarterback Alex Smith added a 16-yard run, and converted the drive's only third down with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe. Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck quickly led his team back, completing 7 consecutive passes for 74 yards. Four of them went to T. Y. Hilton, including a 24-yarder and a 10-yard touchdown catch to tie the game at 7. On the next possession, Smith completed a 68-yard pass to Bowe at the Colts 2-yard line. But the team could not get into the end zone with their next three plays and had to settle for Ryan Succop's 19-yard field goal to take a 10–7 lead. Then after a Colts three-and-out, Smith launched a 79-yard touchdown bomb to Donnie Avery, increasing the Chiefs lead to 17–7 21 seconds into the second quarter. Following a Chiefs punt, Abdullah intercepted another pass from Luck. Kansas City took over on the Indianapolis 28-yard line, and scored on a 42-yard Succop field goal to give them a 17-point lead, 41–24, with just over 5 minutes left in the third quarter. But Luck quickly led the Colts back, completing a 25-yard pass to Brown on the first play of the next possession, and later hooking up with LaVon Brazill for a 35-yard gain before finishing it off with a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Coby Fleener. Then after a three-and-out, Kansas City punter Dustin Colquitt's 31-yard boot pinned Indianapolis back at their own 10-yard line. But it did not stop the Colts, as Luck completed 5 out of 6 passes for 61 yards and rushed for 12 on a 90-yard scoring drive. On the last play, Brown fumbled the ball while trying to run it into the end zone, but it bounced right back into the hands of Luck, who took it across the goal line himself for a touchdown. With this score, the lead was cut to 41–38 with 10:38 left in the game. Aided by A. J. Jenkins' 27-yard reception, the Chiefs managed to run the clock down to 5:36 with their ensuing drive. Succop finished it off with a 43-yard field goal to put the team up by 6 points. But three plays after the kickoff, Luck fired a deep pass to Hilton over the middle, who caught it without breaking stride and took off for a 64-yard touchdown catch, giving Indy their first lead of the game at 45–44. With 4:21 left, Kansas City desperately tried to get in range for a leading field goal. Smith started the drive with a pair of completions to Bowe for 38 yards. But after a 3-yard running play moved the ball to the Colts 39-yard line, Smith was flagged for a 10-yard intentional grounding penalty. The next play netted the team 6 yards, bringing up 4th down and 11. On the next play, Smith threw a deep pass to Bowe along the right sideline. Bowe made a leaping catch with enough yardage for a first down, but landed with only one foot in bounds, causing a turnover on downs and allowing Indianapolis to run out the rest of the clock. For Kansas City, Smith finished the game 30-for-46 for 378 yards and four touchdowns, while also rushing for 57 yards. His top receiver was Bowe, who caught 8 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. Davis rushed for 67 yards, caught 7 passes for 33 yards, and scored two touchdowns. Abdullah had six tackles and two interceptions. For Indianapolis, Luck finished 29-for-45 for 443 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 3 interceptions. He also rushed for 45 yards and scored a fumble recovery touchdown. Hilton caught 13 passes for 224 yards – the third highest total in postseason history – and two touchdowns. Both teams combined for 1,049 total yards (513 for Kansas City, 536 for Indianapolis), an NFL postseason record. This was the first wildcard playoff game ever to feature two former number one draft picks at quarterback; Smith in 2005 and Luck in 2012. This was the eighth consecutive playoff loss for Kansas City, an NFL record.

• published: 30 Oct 2015
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