Adam Vinatieri of the Indianapolis Colts kicks the winning field goal in a 15-13 victory over the Denver Broncos with 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter on Sunday, October 27. (Photo: Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
The Denver Broncos led the Indianapolis Colts for almost the entire game on Sunday.
Almost.
And therein lies the issue.
Adam Viniteri kicked a 52-yard field goal with 22 seconds left to give the Colts a 15-13 win over the Broncos. It was the Broncos' third loss in the final 22 seconds of a game this season.
The Colts drove 56 yards in seven plays in the final two minutes to give Viniteri a chance to put the Colts ahead late.
The Broncos had a 13-3 lead after Royce Freeman scored on a four-yard touchdown run with 11:38 left. But the offense could only muster 62 yards the rest of the game and the Colts rallied by scoring the final 12 points of the game.
After the game, Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco questioned the play-calling and lack of aggressiveness in an interview with KOA Voice of the Broncos Dave Logan.
"For some reason, I felt like we were playing not to lose," Flacco told Logan. "There were a couple situations in that game where we really didn't go for it. Everything we do right now is hard, even the drives we score. It's grind-it-out drives, it a penalty here, a penalthy there. When you're playing football like that, you're going to be in these tight games and you're going to have to really, really, really execute at the end of the game. Those things are really tough to do."
The Broncos ran the ball straight ahead on a third-and-five play with just under two minutes to go. Phillip Lindsay got stopped at the line of scrimmage and the Broncos had to punt, setting up the Colts final drive.
Flacco would have preferred a different play call.
"Is it easier to get five yards or is it easier to drive down and kick the field goal?" Flacco said to Logan. "If you give the ball back to them, it's not that hard to get a field goal. We see it every week in the NFL."
The Broncos slip to 2-6 while the Colts are now 5-2.
You can check out Logan's full interview with Flacco and other KOA postgame interviews below.