Chalk this up under the heading: When trick plays go wrong.
In a high-stakes game for the AFC playoff picture, the Colts broke out a big trick play while trailing the Broncos late in Sunday’s game in Denver. It did not go well.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson took a shotgun snap in the fourth quarter with his Colts trailing, 17-13. He threw a lateral to Adonai Mitchell in the backfield. Mitchel then threw the ball directly back toward Richardson for what looked like a modified flea-flicker. Only, he didn’t find Richardson
Instead, Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto stepped in between and snagged the ball at the 50-yard line. Bonitto then sprinted untouched to the end zone for a touchdown to extend the Broncos lead to 24-13.
It was a disaster of a play in a game where the Colts had already delivered another. Earlier in the game, Jonathan Taylor dropped the ball short of the goal-line on a would-be 41-yard touchdown run. Instead of a score to extend a Colts lead to 20-7, the Broncos took over possession on a touchback with a 13-7 deficit.
Seventeen consecutive points later, including Bonnito’s defensive touchdown, and the Broncos turned the game around into an 11-point fourth-quarter lead. In a game with playoff implications for both teams, it added up to disaster for the Colts.
