Colts bet on their defense in overtime. Patrick Mahomes made them pay

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen elected to kick off in overtime because he didn’t want to give Kansas City’s offense the opportunity to know what it needed.

The Colts won the coin toss in overtime, giving Steichen a chance to make the decision.

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Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes had beaten the Colts defense up and down the field all night. If the Colts were forced to settle for a field goal on the opening drive, Mahomes would get a chance to play with the freedom of knowing that he’d always have four downs to go for the win.

“It goes back and forth,” Steichen said. “If we go first with it, Mahomes gets four downs going the other way. We wanted to play defense there, and then we had four downs we were going to get offensively.”

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Sep 20, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid speaks with Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen during warmups prior to the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

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Under the current NFL rules, both teams get at least one chance to score, and after that, the first team to score wins the game.

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There are merits to both sides. If a team kicks off, the way the Colts did, they know exactly what they need to get, making a coach’s decisions easier. If a team receives, it has a better chance at getting the all-important third possession, the possession that can end the game.

Entering Sunday’s games, the team that starts with the ball in overtime is 10-6-1 since the rule change.

A team that kicks off also has the opportunity to win with a field goal on its possession, provided that it can get a stop. When the Packers and Jets went to overtime in East Rutherford during the early games Sunday, Green Bay forced a punt, then beat New York with a field goal.

As bad as the Indianapolis defense had played through most of Sunday night’s game in Kansas City, the Colts defenders saw Steichen’s decision as a chance for redemption.

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“Let’s go win it,” free safety Camryn Bynum remembers thinking. “Get a quick stop, three-and-out. … No matter what, we knew the game was in our hands.”

Indianapolis nearly got its three-and-out. The Colts forced Kansas City into a third-and-12 after just three plays of overtime, but Indianapolis gave up a 30-yard completion to Tyquan Thornton, setting up a go-ahead field goal for Harrison Butker.

When the Colts took the ball, they knew they needed four downs to score, and Steichen nearly rolled the dice on fourth-and-8 inside the Kansas City red zone. Daniel Jones headed to the line of scrimmage with a play.

Indianapolis didn’t get the look it wanted, forcing Spencer Shrader to kick a field goal and handing Mahomes a second opportunity to win it, a chance he didn’t let pass him by.

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“It can go either way in those situations,” Steichen said. “We decided to kick off there, and obviously we had a chance.”

Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts bet on their defense in overtime. Patrick Mahomes made them pay

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