Why Colts coach Shane Steichen ran the ball in overtime vs Chiefs

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KANSAS CITY, MO — When the referees finished reviewing Laquon Treadwell‘s catch and ruled that he’d been downed by contact, sending the crowd at Arrowhead Stadium into a rage, Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen knew what he wanted to do.

The Colts had a first down inside Kansas City’s red zone, an opportunity to win the game with a touchdown.

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Steichen wanted his best player, running back Jonathan Taylor, to carry the Colts home to Indianapolis with a win.

“I was trying to finish the game with JT, with the ball in his hands,” Steichen said.

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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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Taylor had been the Colts‘ driving force for most of the game, the player who kept carrying Indianapolis back into position to win against a Kansas City offense that shredded the Colts’ beleaguered defense.

When the team’s top deep threat, Alec Pierce, left the game with an injury and the passing game had its wings clipped, it had been Taylor who’d finished off drives. Taylor in the second quarter, patiently waiting behind his offensive linemen to bust free for a 24-yard touchdown to the right; Taylor making the same move the other way in the fourth quarter, rolling into the end zone on a 5-yard touchdown run.

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Taylor has typically been the Colts‘ best weapon in the red zone.

And Steichen has been repeatedly criticized during his Indianapolis tenure for not going to Taylor in big moments. When the Colts’ playoff chances fell incomplete at the end of the season finale in 2023, Steichen was criticized for throwing to Tyler Goodson, rather than giving it to Taylor. When the Indianapolis offense stalled in Kansas City a year ago, sending the Colts to another loss, Steichen was hit hard for calling too many passes, for taking the ball out of Taylor’s hands. There have been a half-dozen other games like those in Steichen’s tenure.

He tried to let Taylor win it this time.

“In that situation, we wanted it to be the last possession for us,” Steichen said. “We were going to run it there in that situation, let JT win it at the end.”

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Kansas City had other ideas.

Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill wrestled Taylor down for a 1-yard loss on first down. Steichen rarely calls for a run on second-and-long, but he’d already determined he was going to give Taylor a shot to win it for Indianapolis.

Kansas City fought through the Indianapolis offensive line again, and Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton dropped Taylor for a 2-yard loss.

Steichen still wanted to win the game. Facing a third-and-13, he called a pass for starting quarterback Daniel Jones, who was forced to pull the ball down and scramble for five yards.

“Went through the read, didn’t see anybody open,” Jones said.

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The Indianapolis offense stayed on the field.

According to Steichen, it wasn’t just posturing; the Colts planned to run a play, but Steichen cautioned Jones to take a delay of game if Indianapolis got the wrong look for the play call.

“If you love it, man, let’s go get it, let’s go win this thing,” Steichen told Jones. “But if it’s not the right look, shoot, let’s get a field goal there.”

When Jones stepped to the line of scrimmage, Kansas City’s defense wasn’t lined up in the coverage the Colts needed.

Spencer Shrader tied the game at 30 with a 38-yard field goal.

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“It was fourth-and-8, had a play called, had to love the look to run it there,” Steichen said. “If not, obviously we took the delay and kicked the field goal there.”

Indianapolis hoped the defense would give the Colts one last chance to try to win the game.

But the Colts defense couldn’t hold, and Indianapolis walked away with a loss that was only 17 yards away from being a win.

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

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why Colts coach Shane Steichen ran the ball in overtime vs Chiefs

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