BALTIMORE – Gardner Minshew battled, the defense hung tough and Matt Gay proved his value and the Colts pulled out a gritty 22-19 overtime win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.
Minshew, who started his first game with the Colts in place of Anthony Richardson (concussion), led his offense on a game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter.
The Colts traded three-and-outs with the Ravens to begin overtime, then traded failed fourth-down conversions near midfield. A 13-yard scythe by running back Zack Moss brought the Colts on the doorstep of Gay's field goal range.
Gay connected on his fourth 50+ yard field goal to send the Colts back to Indianapolis with a victory.
Moss set a career high with 122 rushing yards; the Colts needed every one of those – especially in overtime – to win in Week 3.
The Colts hung around and had two shots at taking the lead and/or tying the game late in the fourth quarter.
On the first one, before the two-minute warning, Minshew stepped out of the end zone for a safety that put Baltimore up, 19-16. But the Colts still were able to fight back.
After their defense forced a three-and-out, the Colts took over with 1:41 and no timeouts left on their own 38-yard line. Consecutive completions to Alec Pierce and Josh Downs moved the ball inside the Ravens' 40-yard line; Gay connected on his third 50-plus-yard field goal to tie the game at 19 with just under a minute left.
Gay became the first kicker in Colts history to make four 50-plus-yard field goals in a game.
All that late action brought to a close a back-and-forth second half.
View in-game highlights from the Colts' matchup versus the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on September 24.
A 10-play, 81 yard drive engineered by Jackson and the Ravens' run game put the Ravens ahead in the third quarter, with Jackson dashing 10 yards into the end zone on a quarterback draw to put Baltimore up, 14-13.
Moss ripped off a 24-yard run to spark the Colts' response on the ensuing drive, and Gay connected on a 53-yarder to push the score to 16-14 Colts. Gay also hit a 54-yard field goal in the first half. Moss notched his second career 100-yard game, too, which was also his second over his last three starts with the Colts dating back to the 2022 season.
Jackson efficiently led the Ravens back into Colts territory and Justin Tucker made a 50-yard field goal to put the Baltimore ahead, 17-16, midway through the fourth quarter.
The Colts took a 10-7 lead into halftime.
The Colts punched back after Jackson completed all five of his passes and rushed four times for 26 yards – including an eight-yard touchdown – on Baltimore's opening drive. Jackson was held to just two pass attempts the rest of the first half and rushed one time for six yards, and the Ravens fumbled four times, losing two, over the game's first 30 minutes.
Minshew sparked a touchdown drive with a 23-yard completion to wide receiver Alec Pierce, and ended that possession by floating a 17-yard toss to Moss, who beat linebacker Patrick Queen to the pylon for a score.
Cornerback JuJu Brents made his 2023 debut and had a forced fumble (which he recovered) as well as a key third down pass break-up on a Jackson throw to tight end Mark Andrews.
