Colts prove too strong for Commanders in London

The NFL returned to London to begin Week 4’s Sunday slate, with the Washington Commanders ‘hosting’ the Indianapolis Colts – both coming in on the back of the first win of their respective seasons, with this presenting as an opportunity to return to .500 and thus their respective conference’s playoff picture.

With Marcus Mariota stepping in for an injured Jayden Daniels the quarterback, Washington outscored the Seattle Seahawks for an improbable victory, while a defensive AFC South matchup saw Indianapolis get the better of the Houston Texans, thanks to a late field goal by Spencer Shrader.

The afternoon got off to a perfect start for Washington when they forced a fumble by Daniel Jones just 10 seconds in, though they were unable to fully capitalize, settling for a pair of early field goals to open proceedings. Things were soured for the Commanders in the process, however, as Mariota suffered a leg injury, which left undrafted rookie Athan Kaliakmanis with the responsibilities all of a sudden.

The Colts waited until over 25 minutes into the game to finally get on the board, but they did so in a meaningful way, through their go-to guy in Jonathan Taylor, whose 5-yard score gave them the lead. A field goal from Shrader as time expired eventually gave them a 10-6 halftime lead in a game that you would be excused for overlooking as your Sunday morning entertainment.

With Kaliakmanis struggling to generate any sort of offense, that went from bad to worse when he threw his first interception just 45 seconds into the second half. Jaylon Carlies stepped in on 3rd and long to pick him off, giving Indianapolis prime field position to make the most of their ascendency.

That they did. Taylor found the end zone from 5 yards out once again and the game seemed to have started slipping away from the Commanders.

But their lifeline came when the unassuming Kaliakmanis pulled a perfect deep ball out of his kit bag, hitting Treylon Burks in stride for 47 yards and his first career passing touchdown, as Washington found themselves just 4 points behind.

Not long later, a 48-yard gain by Dyami Brown on an equally-good downfield throw by Kaliakmanis had the home side poised to tie the scores at 20 apiece, but their offense hit a wall thereafter, which they failed to overcome for the remainder of the game,

Jones turned the momentum back in favour of his team by compiling a time-consuming drive down the field and eventually running in the touchdown that doubled his side’s advantage, putting the game all but out of reach with 11 minutes to play in the final term.

Having no choice but to go for it on 4th and short on the following drive, the Commanders did indeed come up short, turning the ball over and sealing their fate on an ultimately dirty day across the pond for Dan Quinn’s team.

Shrader ended with another 3 field goals to his name, the last of which was the final score of the night, as Indianapolis did what they needed to to get their season back on track at 2-2, running out 30-13 victors. A favourable 8-week stretch lies ahead for the Colts, who will have their eye on at least one of the AFC’s wildcard positions, if not an unlikely AFC South title.

Touchdowns
Indianapolis: Taylor 2, Jones
Washington: Burks

Top Performers
Indianapolis: Taylor, Latu, Carlies, Walley, Shrader
Washington: Oweh, Douglas, Brown

Injuries
Indianapolis: Key (unknown)
Washington: Mariota (leg), Lane (ankle)

Crowd: TBC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium