INDIANAPOLIS – Jonathan Taylor scored two touchdowns and Trey Sermon added another on Sunday as the Indianapolis Colts celebrated their 21-16 victory over the Chicago Bears.
Taylor ran 23 times over 110 yards as the Colts (1-2) avoided their first 0-3 start since 2021. Anthony Richardson completed 10 of 20 passes for 167 yards but had two more interceptions.
Chicago (1-2) lost for the second straight game despite scoring two offensive touchdowns – one more than in the first two weeks. Caleb Williams, this year’s No. 1 draft pick, completed 33 of 52 passes for 363 yards through the air – a season high – and threw the first two TD passes of his NFL career. Williams was also intercepted twice.
The performances certainly didn’t score many style points.
Chicago and Indy combined for just 71 yards in the first quarter and had five turnovers. The league’s two youngest starting quarterbacks each had a passer rating below 81.
Williams was also sacked four times and was under pressure for most of the game, including on a 2-point conversion pass that fell incomplete midway through the fourth quarter. And the Colts finished the game with just 15 first downs.
But Indy did just enough to hold on.
After enduring a scoreless first half, the Bears finally broke through with a 53-yard field goal on their first possession of the second half.
The Colts made it 14:3 when Richardson helped push Sermon forward across the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown with 21 seconds left in the third quarter.
Williams brought the Bears within 14-9 with his first touchdown pass – a 1-yard pass to Rome Odunze with 8:21 minutes left in the game. But as a rookie defensive end Laiatu Latin forced a strip sack from Williams. Indy took advantage of this with Taylor’s 1-yard touchdown run to seal it.
The Bears managed to get within one point with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Cole Kmet with 2:01 minutes left, but the Colts let the clock run out.
Richardson opened the scoring after an early Williams interception by hooking up with Kylen Granson for a 40-yard touchdown. Taylor followed and used a nifty jump cut to break free for a 29-yard touchdown run on the next play to make it 7-0.
Kmet matched his personal record with 10 catches for 97 yards. Odunze, who caught eight times for Williams, finished the game with six catches for 112 yards, a season high.
Williams nearly caught his first touchdown pass on the final play of the first half when his throw into the end zone was intercepted by Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones. DJ Moore caught the pass alertly near the goal line.
But Colts Security Julian Blackmon and linebacker EJ Speed tackled Moore at the 1 to preserve the 7-0 lead.
Bears: Host the Los Angeles Rams next Sunday, the first of two consecutive home games.
Colts: Stay in Indy to face the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
