Kansas City Chiefs vs Indianapolis Colts Box Score on Jan 04, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Jan 4, 2014

Colts 45, Chiefs 44: Andrew Luck threw for four touchdowns and ran for another score as host Indianapolis rallied from a 28-point second-half deficit to stun Kansas City.

Luck overcame three interceptions to throw for 443 yards on 29-of-45 passing, including the go-ahead 64-yard scoring pass to T.Y. Hilton with 4:21 left that gave the Colts (12-5) their only lead and sent the Chiefs to their eighth straight postseason loss - the longest skid in league history. Hilton had 13 catches for 224 yards and two TDs and running back Donald Brown scored twice in the NFL's second-biggest playoff comeback. Indianapolis will play at New England or Denver next weekend.

Alex Smith was superb in defeat for injury-riddled Kansas City (11-6), throwing for a career-high 378 yards and four touchdowns and sparking the Chiefs to a 38-10 lead 1:21 into the second half. Backup running back Knile Davis had a rushing and receiving score for Kansas City, which lost star running back Jamaal Charles to a concussion 3 1/2 minutes into the game and Davis early in the fourth quarter.

The Chiefs took a seemingly insurmountable lead when Luck was picked off on by Husain Abdullah on the first play of the second half and Smith needed only three plays to convert the turnover into a 10-yard scoring pass to Davis for a 38-10 lead with 13:39 left in the third. The Colts responded with a pair of touchdowns by Brown in a 4:15 span - the second coming after Robert Mathis strip-sacked Smith - to pull within 38-24 midway through the third.

A 42-yard field goal by Ryan Succop briefly slowed Indianapolis' momentum, but Luck found tight end Coby Fleener for a 12-yard score before pulling the Colts within 41-38 by scooping up Brown's fumble at the 5-yard line and lunging into the end zone with 10:38 to play. Succop connected again from 43 yards to make it 44-38 with 5:36 to play, but Luck found Hilton in stride on a 64-yard bomb 1:14 later and the Colts clinched it when Smith's fourth-down pass to Dwayne Bowe was out of bounds on the first play after the two-minute warning.

Kansas City broke away from a 10-7 lead when Smith hit Donnie Avery on a 79-yard scoring strike and tossed a 5-yard TD pass to fullback Anthony Sherman following a fumble by Trent Richardson to make it 24-7 less than two minutes into the second quarter. After a field goal by Adam Vinatieri, Davis capped a 15-play, 81-yard drive by scoring from 4 yards out for a 31-10 edge at intermission.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Bowe had eight catches for a season-high 150 yards and a TD as the teams combined for the most yards (1,049) in postseason history. ... Charles, who led the AFC in rushing with 1,287 yards and scored 19 TDs, suffered his concussion with 11 1/2 minutes left in the opening quarter and was joined on the sidelines by Avery (concussion), CB Brandon Flowers (head), linebacker Justin Houston (undisclosed) and Davis (knee). ... Luck became the first player with at least three passing TDs and a rushing score in a postseason game since Smith accomplished the feat with San Francisco against New Orleans in 2012. It marked only the fifth postseason matchup between quarterbacks taken with the No. 1 overall pick (Smith 2005, Luck, 2012).