Colts 30, Commanders 13: Jonathan Taylor's Two Touchdowns Power Indianapolis to London Rout

LONDON — It took the Indianapolis Colts a half to remember who they are. Once they did, the Washington Commanders — down to their third-string quarterback and running out of healthy bodies — never stood a chance. Jonathan Taylor ran for two 5-yard touchdowns, Spencer Shrader kicked three field goals and the Colts pulled away for a 30-13 win over Washington at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Sunday's NFL International Series game.

The start was ugly for Indianapolis. On the Colts' second play from scrimmage, Washington edge rusher Odafe Oweh strip-sacked Daniel Jones, and Drew Stevens converted the short field into a 31-yard field goal. After Marcus Mariota ripped off a 35-yard run on Washington's next possession, Stevens added a 29-yarder, and the Commanders — a touchdown underdog on a neutral field — led 6-0. The Colts, meanwhile, were committing the kind of mistakes that lose games: Jones also threw an interception to cornerback Rasul Douglas, who returned it to the Commanders' 37-yard line.

Then Washington's quarterback situation, already fragile, cracked open. Mariota — starting because Jayden Daniels is out with a dislocated elbow — went down on a third-down sack late in the first quarter with a right knee injury and never returned. The veteran had completed 3 of 4 passes for 46 yards, and his 35-yard scramble was Washington's longest play of the day. Head coach Dan Quinn said afterward the team believes it's an MCL injury — a re-aggravation of the knee Mariota hurt in the first preseason game — with further testing coming once the team returns to Washington. (For the full pregame picture, see our earlier report on Washington's quarterback crisis heading into London.)

Into the game stepped Athan Kaliakmanis, a seventh-round rookie out of Minnesota and Rutgers, for his first regular-season NFL snaps. The Colts' defense greeted him rudely: three punts and a turnover on downs on his first four drives. And Indianapolis finally found its footing behind Taylor. Aided by an unnecessary-roughness flag on Commanders cornerback Amik Robertson — who shoved tight end Tyler Warren after the whistle on a third-and-14 — the Colts marched to Taylor's first 5-yard touchdown with 3:23 left in the half. The score was Taylor's fifth outside the United States, the most in international games in NFL history. Jones then drove Indianapolis 51 yards in the final 1:09, and Shrader's 48-yard field goal sent the Colts to the locker room up 10-6 despite averaging just 3.4 yards per play.

The second half opened with the play that broke the game. Kaliakmanis, backed up on third-and-17, had his pass batted and intercepted by linebacker Jaylon Carlies — the first interception of Carlies' career — and returned to Washington's 20-yard line. Four plays later, after a Daniel Jones strike to Laquon Treadwell moved the chains, Taylor punched in his second 5-yard touchdown. Just like that, it was 17-6 with 12:45 left in the third quarter.

To his credit, the rookie answered. Kaliakmanis shook off the interception and dropped a perfect 47-yard deep ball to wide receiver Treylon Burks, who separated down the left sideline and finished the play in the end zone for his first career touchdown pass — and Burks' second touchdown catch of the season. Stevens' extra point cut the deficit to 17-13 with 10:39 left in the third, and for a moment, Washington had life. It didn't last. Shrader drilled a 52-yard field goal to make it 20-13, Jones capped a grinding drive with a 5-yard touchdown run on third-and-2 with 11:38 left in the fourth, and Shrader's 44-yarder closed the scoring at 30-13.

The box score tells the story of two teams going opposite directions. Taylor finished with 95 yards on 20 carries. Jones went 19-of-34 for 143 yards with an interception and a lost fumble — but his legs delivered the dagger. Shrader was automatic from 48, 52 and 44 yards. Kaliakmanis finished 15-of-33 for 186 yards with the touchdown to Burks, the Carlies interception, and a would-be 87-yard touchdown strike wiped out by penalty — the kind of afternoon that shows both why the Commanders drafted him and why he's a seventh-round rookie.

The injuries kept coming for Washington. Wide receiver Jaylin Lane was carted off with what Quinn called a "serious ankle injury" suffered on a kickoff return, and defensive end Charles Omenihu left with a groin injury. The Commanders were also flagged 10 times to the Colts' one — an undisciplined afternoon that kept drives alive for Indianapolis and killed Washington's own. Bill Croskey-Merritt managed just 15 yards on nine carries, and even Austin Ekeler's debut — four carries for 29 yards in his first game since Achilles surgery — couldn't spark a ground game that has vanished for weeks. Washington fell to 0-5 in international games and 1-3 on the season, heading home to face the Giants next week with the quarterback situation as uncertain as it was when the plane took off.

And then there's the footnote that delighted the traveling Colts fans and will sting in North London: with the win, Indianapolis now has more victories at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season than Tottenham Hotspur themselves. Spurs sit 0-2-3 and bottom of the Premier League; the Colts are 1-0 at the venue and looked right at home by the fourth quarter. The NFL returns to Tottenham next week when the Eagles face the Jaguars — and if Sunday was any indication, the visitors should feel just fine.

For the Colts (2-2), it's a get-right win that papers over a shaky first half — Taylor remains the engine, Shrader remains money, and the defense feasted once Washington ran out of quarterbacks. For the Commanders (1-3), the London trip was a worst-case scenario: no Daniels, now no Mariota, a rookie thrown into the fire, and a roster limping home. The final score was 30-13. The quarterback depth chart is the story that will follow them back across the Atlantic.

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