Third-and-22 is the sort of down that makes an offense explain itself. Indianapolis needed a big completion to keep its last possession alive, and instead Daniel Jones’ pass toward Keenan Allen traveled into the hands of Caleb Downs at the Indianapolis 37 with 41 seconds left.
Downs’ first career interception finished Dallas’ 27-23 victory, but it was the final piece of a defensive series that had already become uncomfortable for the Colts.
Indianapolis took over at its 26 after the kickoff and went backward. Daniel Jones drew a 12-yard intentional-grounding penalty on first down and threw incomplete on second. Dallas still had to defend two more downs, but the Colts had to find a substantial chunk of yardage to keep the ball. Downs saved everyone the trouble of playing fourth down.
Downs’s afternoon also included a sack. The two plays show different ways a safety can shorten a possession, though the last one mattered more to the result. The temptation is to remember only the airborne ball and the catch. Look at the spot where the Colts had to take their last snap, and the work of defending the previous two plays starts to count, too.
Quinnen Williams had cut off a different Indianapolis threat earlier in the quarter. The Colts had benefited from a long defensive pass interference penalty and another flag for unnecessary roughness. Jonathan Taylor took a handoff, Williams knocked the ball loose, and Shemar James recovered it at the Dallas 19.
That location mattered. It gave Dallas possession in its own territory rather than handing Indianapolis another red-zone opportunity. The Cowboys did not convert the takeaway into points; the possession ended with a punt.
So the fumble was not a complete victory for the defense. Still, Williams had interrupted a drive that was gathering speed, and his seven tackles, three tackles for loss and forced fumble described a player who repeatedly arrived before Indianapolis could settle into its preferred rhythm.
Dallas needed those interruptions because the Colts had found two ways to stay alive. Ashton Dulin’s 55-yard touchdown catch came with 1:17 left in the third quarter, only moments after Dallas had stretched its lead to 20-10.
The play reduced the margin to three points in one stroke and exposed the danger of letting a game built on field position turn into a handful of long Indianapolis gains.
Spencer Shrader’s leg made the defense’s job more difficult without Indianapolis getting back to the end zone. His 59-yard field goal tied the game with 5:56 remaining. A 50-yarder at 1:37 put the Colts up 23-20.
Indianapolis went only 3 for 13 on third down and finished with 271 yards, but a defense that allows one short throw to go for a touchdown and several drives to reach kicking range can still find itself in trouble.
