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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Indianapolis Colts were without their top four offensive linemen on Saturday. They didn’t have their All-Pro linebacker, either. They also lost their starting tight end on the second offensive snap of the game. The Colts didn’t play great football at times. But with their playoff hopes uncertain, they got clutch throws from quarterback Carson Wentz in the fourth quarter and beat the reeling Arizona Cardinals 22-16. The victory increased the Colts' playoff chances to 95%. The door also isn’t closed on them winning the AFC South, as they trail first-place Tennessee by a game. The Titans hold the tiebreaker with two games to go by virtue of the season sweep over the Colts. “I tell ya, it was really, really exciting and impressive,” Colts owner Jim Irsay said of Saturday's win. “We talked about how it was a complete roster. This is a good football team we beat today. They won a lot of games. Really proud of the team. Starts to make you think, ‘What can’t we do?’" Saturday’s win by the Colts (9-6) was arguably bigger than their Week 15 win against New England because their roster was even more depleted by the second quarter.  The Colts went into the game without starting center Ryan Kelly (personal), left guard Quenton Nelson (reserve/COVID-19 list), right guard Mark Glowinski (reserve/COVID-19 list), linebacker Darius Leonard (reserve/COVID-19 list) and safety Khari Willis (reserve/COVID-19 list). They then lost tight end Jack Doyle and left tackle Eric Fisher during the game.
There were times when it looked like the Colts were going to struggle to get anything going offensively because the running lanes weren’t always there for running back Jonathan Taylor and Wentz’s accuracy wasn't always great. But none of that mattered when Wentz made two big throws on the same drive, one to receiver T.Y. Hilton and the other to Dezmon Patmon on the touchdown that clinched the game. It was the Colts' sixth victory in their past seven games. “A gutty performance,” Irsay said about Wentz. “He hung in there, made some big throws at the end we needed. And you have to give him credit. The quarterback, in his case, has to be on the winning side of the coin. That’s all you expect." Promising trend: The magic number for the Colts to win is 100. They moved to 9-0 this season when Taylor rushes for at least 100 yards. The second-year running back nearly reached half that total on his first carry of the game, when he rushed for 43 yards. Taylor, the NFL’s leading rusher, finished with 108 yards on 27 carries. Taylor also tied Colts great Edgerrin James for the second-most 100-yard rushing games (nine) in a single season in Colts history. QB breakdown: Wentz looked shaky and didn't always have his feet set while taking snaps behind the makeshift offensive line. But he settled down in the fourth quarter to make the big plays the Colts needed. Wentz finished 18-of-28 for 225 yards and two touchdowns. What was even more impressive was that on throws outside the numbers, he was 13-of-16 for 193 yards with both of his touchdowns. Eye-popping NextGen stat: Taylor reached a max speed of 20.74 mph on his 43-yard run in the first quarter, the fourth-fastest speed from a ball carrier this season. His 43-yard run was his fifth run of at least 40 yards this season. No other NFL player has more than two rushes of at least 40 yards this season.
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