FOXBOROUGH, Ma. – New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez undercut an Anthony Richardson throw intended for wide receiver Alec Pierce, grabbed the ball and rolled to the ground with what easily could've been a game-sealing interception.

With about eight minutes left, the Patriots had a 24-17 lead and the ball just shy of midfield. Any points there would've put New England up by two scores, likely without enough time for the Colts to mount a comeback.

But for the first time in Sunday's game, the Colts' defense kept the Patriots from moving the ball past the 50-yard line. The Colts took over after a punt on their own 20-yard line with 5:34 left, in need of an 80-yard drive to – let's be real here – save their season.

Richardson and the Colts' offense delivered. It took 19 plays, including three fourth down conversions, and then a gutsy decision by head coach Shane Steichen to go for two and win the game – or lose and face nearly-insurmountable odds to make the playoffs. Every play carried the weight of a season on it. The Colts executed when it mattered. And they won.

Here's how it happened, with an inside look at those three fourth down plays before the two-point try:

Fourth-and-3, 3:33 left, ball on the Colts' 40-yard line: The Colts did still have three timeouts left, but realistically, a turnover on downs would've given New England a prime chance to ice the game with a field goal. As Steichen relayed the play to Richardson, he told him: "You've got to have it right here. You've got to make it work. Find a way."

The play was designed to free up wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. against man coverage, but the Patriots dropped into zone with safety Jabril Peppers blitzing off the right side of the formation. Peppers had an unobstructed path to Richardson, who was forced to bail out to his right – where no pass-catcher was designed to be.

Richardson evaded Peppers – an impressive piece of sack-avoidance on its own – and tight end Mo Alie-Cox noticed his quarterback rolling away from the play. Richardson bought enough time to flip a pass to Alie-Cox, who hauled it in for a chain-moving 11-yard gain.

"I see AR just scrambling to the right, I'm just like, all right, I think I'm the only receiver on this side, so it's either he runs it or the ball has to come to me," Alie-Cox said. "I just tried to stay in phase with him, and kudos to him, he made a good pass and we just converted."

Fourth-and-2, 1:57 left, ball on Patriots' 41-yard line: After the completion to Alie-Cox, Richardson took a shot downfield toward wide receiver Alec Pierce, but cornerback Alex Austin impressively broke up the pass. Richardson connected on an RPO to Pittman on second down for an eight yard gain, then wide receiver Adonai Mitchell was unable to haul in a deep ball on third-and-2. That set up another gotta-have-it situation.

Steichen went to a reliable play on fourth-and-short: A designed run for Richardson. In his career, Richardson has picked up a first down on nine of 10 fourth down rushing attempts; on this one, he beat linebacker Jahlani Tavai to the edge, followed a block by tight end Kylen Granson and dashed for a six-yard gain.

Fourth-and-goal, 17 seconds left, ball on Patriots' three-yard line: The Colts ran two plays before this from the two-yard line, neither of which gained any yardage. On second-and-goal from the two, Steichen called for the same run play Richardson scored on in the first half – though this time he was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by Peppers and defensive tackle Davon Godchaux. On third and goal, running back Jonathan Taylor was stopped for a one-yard loss on a toss sweep.

That set up a do-or-die fourth-and-goal from the three. The Colts took the field and the Patriots called timeout; then Steichen called a timeout after seeing what look the Patriots were in after their own timeout. Steichen thought New England might be bluffing their coverage, but he stuck with the play call.

At the snap, Pierce climbed into the end zone, ran toward the near sideline and was picked up by safety Kyle Dugger. Richardson, from a clean pocket, tossed an on-the-money throw to Pierce, who made a physical play to snap the touchdown.

"We know we've got fast guys that can run away from defenders, and I just trusted AP and Pitt to get across the field," Richardson said. "And I was just waiting for one of those guys to pop open and I threw it to AP."

***

What happened next was a confluence of the right situation for the right playcall with the right personnel.

Steichen had prepared for this moment: Down by one with little time left on the clock, he was going to go for the win with a two-point conversion instead of sending the game to overtime with a PAT. Had there been more time, Steichen said he would've gone for the PAT. But given the implications of his decision – a gotta-have-it win being on the line – he felt good about the decision and ensuing playcall.

So let's get to the playcall. The first thing Steichen said when asked after the game what he liked about it was: "Put it in 5's hands to go get it," he said.

Granted, the play was a zone read designed for Richardson to identify if Tavai, the linebacker, would crash toward him or stay home to defend a handoff to Taylor. But zooming out for a second, Steichen not only put his trust in Richardson, he put it in an offensive line that was starting backups on its entire right side: Danny Pinter at center, Mark Glowinski at right guard and Matt Goncalves at right tackle.

Those guys – along with left tackle Bernhard Raimann and left guard Quenton Nelson – had more than held their own throughout Sunday afternoon, though. The Colts were going to sink or swim with the five guys up front and their run game.

"If he didn't believe in us, he wouldn't have called it," Raimann said. "He might've gone for one."

At the snap, Tavai stayed home. Richardson kept the ball as Nelson pulled from left to right and knocked defensive tackle Christian Barmore on his back. Glowinski held the point of attack with Godchaux, and Richardson plowed across the goal line in another won't-be-denied run.

"There's no one else we want to have the ball in that situation," Pinter said. "We knew he was gonna find a way."

"We knew he was going to find a way into the end zone," Raimann said.

"Every time he runs near the goal line I think he's going to score," Alie-Cox said.

"He's proved the last few weeks he's going to make that tough yard, he's going to get in the end zone," Pierce said.

"The physicalness he runs with down there, it's hard to stop him," Steichen said.

***

Steichen's confidence in his team reverberated from the huddle to the sideline when the second-year head coach made the call to go for two in that situation.

We'll have to wait two weeks to see if Steichen's faith in his quarterback, his offensive line, his offense and entire his team will spark a playoff run. But in the visiting locker room at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, there was plenty of appreciation for Steichen's belief in his guys to get the job done.

"It speaks a lot to the belief he has in us and the belief he has that we can go out and execute the call in critical situations," Alie-Cox said. "And not just that play, the whole drive. We converted three fourth downs, big touchdown to AP and all that. Definitely credit to him for believing in us and letting us go out there and get the win."

There was no doubt, too, who was going to get the ball in that moment. Sure, it could've been Taylor – an outstanding player in his own right – but of course it was Richardson.

"I saw we were going for two, I know everyone was fired up," Pinter said. "And when we heard the call, it's like — yeah, that's who we want to have the ball."

The stakes of the moment, too, weren't lost on Colts players as they filed out of a stadium this franchise hadn't won in since 2006.

"It's all or nothing," Pittman said. "It's just a ballsy call that he really trusts our line, he really trusts Ant and he ultimately put it in Ant's hands and we came away with a win."

The Colts are now 6-7 heading into their bye week, and in a few weeks will travel to Denver for a game against the Broncos that could have massive playoff implications. But for that game to matter, the Colts had to win on Sunday. And it took a gutsy drive, a gutsy call and the right guy with the ball in his hands – Richardson – for the Colts to emerge from Foxborough still very much alive in the AFC playoff picture.

"We already made it down here," Steichen said. "Let's go win it."

That might be in reference to one play on Sunday, but it can be applied to what lies ahead for the Colts. Over the final four games of 2024, it's up to this group to make Richardson's plunge into the end zone ultimately count.