By STEVE REED, AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

The Indianapolis Colts defense struggled in their previous three games, giving up a minimum of 37 points each time, before heading into Sunday’s game against Charlotte, North Carolina.

Kenny Moore greatly improved the situation as a cornerback.

In the game against the Carolina Panthers, Moore scored two touchdowns by intercepting passes thrown by Bryce Young. Gardner Minshew also threw a touchdown pass to Jonathan Taylor, helping the Indianapolis Colts end a three-game losing streak with a final score of 27-13.

“It’s such a great feeling to experience success again,” Moore expressed. “We’ve faced a difficult period with some defeats that were hard to swallow. We are determined to maintain this positive feeling.”

Moore accomplished a rare feat for the Colts by recording two interception returns for touchdowns in a single game, making him the first player in franchise history to do so. This has only been achieved by one other NFL player in the last 11 years, Mike Edwards of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who did it against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 of the 2021 season.

Shane Steichen, the new head coach of the Colts, praised Moore’s performance as “excellent,” but also stated that he was not taken aback by it.

Steichen praised the player’s dedication to honing his skills through watching tape and implementing proper techniques. He believes that this approach ultimately led to the player’s impressive performance of scoring fourteen points for the team.

The Colts picked off Young, the top selection in the draft, on three occasions and brought him down for four sacks. Young’s final stats were 24 completions out of 39 attempts for 173 yards and one touchdown, resulting in a 1-6 record as a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Steichen mentioned that it was precisely what the defense required.

According to Steichen, it is challenging for a quarterback when the pocket can be condensed from the inside. He also noted that Bryce was able to make some plays by scrambling and moving around, but praised the performance of their defense.

In just seven games, Young has already been sacked a total of 26 times. The constant pressure appears to have affected the rookie, as he was hit seven times and rushed on several other occasions during Sunday’s game.

He is starting to rush his throws and his accuracy is suffering.

In spite of the difficulties, Panthers’ coach Frank Reich stated that he has never thought about replacing Young with veteran Andy Dalton.

According to Reich, even the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game have experienced this kind of situation. It may be tempting to blame the quarterback, but what sets apart the truly great ones is their ability to bounce back. However, becoming a franchise quarterback is a lengthy journey.

During a standout season, Adam Thielen was restricted to only 29 yards and five catches for the Panthers (1-7), who tied their previous record for the worst start in franchise history.

Minshew passed for 127 yards and Taylor rushed for 47 yards for the Colts (4-5).

The Colts completely controlled the first half of the game, outgaining the Panthers 171-62. They entered halftime with a 20-3 lead after Moore intercepted Young’s pass intended for Chuba Hubbard and ran it back for a 49-yard score.

In the third quarter, it seemed that Carolina had regained their drive after reducing the Colts’ lead to 10 points. However, Young’s pass to Miles Sanders was overthrown and Moore intercepted it, running 66 yards to score a touchdown for the Colts. This gave them a 27-10 lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

The Panthers had a first half filled with mistakes.

The sequence began when newly signed Eku Leota positioned himself beyond the line of scrimmage during a Colts punt on fourth-and-1 near their own end zone. This mistake allowed the Colts to gain a first down and ultimately led to a 15-play drive, resulting in a 26-yard field goal by Matt Gay.

After Panthers safety Xavier Woods was penalized for hitting Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman while he was crossing the route, the Colts increased their lead to 10-0. This led to Taylor catching a 10-yard touchdown pass.

According to Reich, a football team cannot be considered good if they incur such penalties.

Following Gay’s successful 57-yard field goal, Young threw a pass towards Hubbard in the flat, which Moore quickly intercepted and returned for a touchdown, increasing the score to 13-3.

Miles Sanders of the Panthers revitalized the team in the third quarter, despite having limited playing time due to his recent struggles with fumbling and lack of impact.

Sanders had four significant contributions that resulted in Young throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to DJ Chark, reducing the Colts’ advantage to 20-10.

However, Moore’s second interception returned for a touchdown essentially secured the victory as Reich’s attempt to defeat the team that had fired him last year was unsuccessful.

INJURIES

The Colts experienced several injuries during the game, with CB Tony Brown, WR Josh Downs, and TE Drew Ogletree all leaving due to a concussion, knee injury, and foot injury respectively. They were unable to return to the game.

The Panthers suffered injuries to OLB Brian Burns, CB C.J. Henderson, S Xavier Woods, and TE Stephen Sullivan during the game and they were unable to return. Head coach Reich stated that it is unlikely that Burns or Woods will be able to play on Thursday against the Chicago Bears due to the short week.

UP NEXT

The Colts will be playing against New England in Frankfurt, Germany on Sunday.

The Panthers will be playing against Chicago on Thursday evening.

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The AP NFL website can be found at the following link: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl.

Source: wralsportsfan.com