INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts kicker Spencer Shrader missed one opportunity to beat the Denver Broncos.

After he came up short on a 60-yard field-goal attempt with no time left, a penalty on the Broncos moved the ball 15 yards closer — well within Shrader's range — and he made the 45-yarder to give the Colts a 29-28 come-from-behind win on Sunday and their first 2-0 start since 2009.

“The first kick, I felt the pressure coming from the other side of the ball and I just felt like it got in my routine a little bit,” Shrader said. “I kind of got hit after the play so there was a little chaos. I saw the flag was thrown and then it was ‘Reset, reset your mentality, you know you’re getting another opportunity.’ Whatever happened in the past, you've just got to flush it and you've got to rethink your mentality. It's keep your eyes down, follow through straight and make sure it goes through.”

Trailing by two with 3:15 left, the Colts played conservatively on their final drive, with Jonathan Taylor running the ball seven times and Daniel Jones throwing only one pass. Those plays netted 26 yards and set up Shrader’s attempt from the Colts logo at midfield that missed short and right.

But Dondrea Tillman was flagged for leverage — using another player to vault himself into the air to try to block the kick. Broncos coach Sean Payton didn't quibble with the call after the game.

Shrader has made all nine of his field-goal attempts this season, including five on Sunday.

The Colts celebrated by lifting Shrader into the air as coach Shane Steichen pumped his fist while running onto the field. Steichen was still out of breath at his postgame news conference.

“It's electric in there right now,” Steichen said, referring to the locker room. “To win a game like that — Spencer did a hell of a job finishing it there with the kick. We found a way to do it.”

Taylor had 25 carries for 165 yards and one TD catch, and he posted his 25th 100-yard game to break a tie with Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson for the second-most in franchise history.

Jones had another efficient performance, avoiding any turnovers in his second Colts start. He was 23 of 34 for 316 yards, one TD pass and one TD run — his first 300-yard game since Sept. 17, 2023 for the New York Giants.

Indy's defense stiffened after allowing J.K. Dobbins to score on a 5-yard TD run early in the third quarter to give Denver a 28-20 lead. The Colts snuffed out one scoring chance with Cam Bynum's interception inside their 10-yard line and only needed the field goal to win because Wil Lutz's 42-yard try clanked off the right upright with 3:15 to play.

“We did a lot of things late in that game to keep ourselves from winning," Payton said. “It’ll be painful to watch that film. There will be a bitter taste for a little while. We put ourselves in position to control the game late. Then, it slipped out of our hands.”

The crazy finish epitomized the oddities of a game featuring two offenses that, at times, moved the ball at will against two of last week’s stingiest defenses. Denver had the only three punts of the game. Indy avoided punting for the second straight week, marking the first time in the Super Bowl era a team has done that in the first two games of a season.

The Washington Commanders didn't punt in Weeks 2 and 3 last year.

Bo Nix finished 22 of 30 for 206 yards with three TDs — all in the first half — and one interception for Denver (1-1). Troy Franklin had a touchdown catch and finished with career bests of eight catches for 89 yards. Dobbins rushed 14 times for 76 yards.

Stopped, finally

Last week, the Colts became the first team to score on every possession since 1977. This week, they opened with two field goals and a TD on their first three drives to make it 10 for 10.

The streak ended when tight end Tyler Warren was stopped short of a first down on a fourth-and-1 run with 7:28 left in the first half. Then the Colts lost their cool on Denver's ensuing 50-yard TD drive, drawing four penalties, including an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Indy's sideline after Steichen tossed his hat and ran down the field to argue a pass interference call on third-and-7.

Injuries

Broncos: Cornerback Patrick Surtain II, last year's NFL defensive player of the year, needed help to get off the field in the first half with an injured left ankle but returned on the next series after getting the ankle taped. Zach Allen also came out early but returned.

Colts: All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson appeared to hurt his knee in the final two minutes of the first half but returned after halftime.

Up next

Broncos: Visit the Los Angeles Chargers next Sunday.

Colts: Play their first away game next Sunday at Tennessee.

Here's how a penalty for leverage cost the Broncos a game against the Colts

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton sounded content to let others debate Sunday's leverage call against linebacker Dondrea Tillman.

Payton wanted no part of it. And neither did the rest of the Broncos.

Shortly after the Colts' Spencer Shrader missed a 60-yard field-goal try that would have won the game — only to redeem himself with a second chance from 15 yards closer because of the penalty — Payton and his players blamed themselves, not the officials, for Denver's 29-28 loss.

“You go from feeling like you’ve just escaped after our errors,” said Bo Nix, who threw three touchdown passes in the first half. “I always hate putting the game in the officials’ hands. We gave them an opportunity, and they called it at the end. Sometimes, it just doesn’t go your way.”

The leverage rule says a player can't use a teammate or opponent to vault himself into the air to try and block a kick.

Regardless of Tillman's intent, that's how the officiating crew saw it.

“As a defender, you're not allowed to place your hand on an opponent or a teammate and push off to propel yourself into the air to block a kick,” referee Craig Wrolstad told a pool reporter. “In this case, No. 92 (Tillman) came across the line to the right guard and he puts his hand on the right guard and pushed off him to elevate himself in order to block the kick. You're not allowed to do that.”

There's bound to be plenty of chatter about whether the officials were right to penalize Tillman. But the Broncos certainly had plenty of chances to put away a game that featured only three punts — all by Denver.

One scoring chance slipped away when Nix was picked off by Cam Bynum inside the Colts 10-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Another vanished when Broncos kicker Wil Lutz clanked a 42-yard field goal attempt off the right upright with 3:15 to go, setting up Indy's final drive.

Denver went scoreless for the final 26 minutes, 15 seconds.

“It’s disappointing. Every player has to look in the mirror and think of ways to help this team get better,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “There’s no way we should have lost this game. We had six or seven opportunities in the second half to put it away. But we didn’t.”

For Colts fans, the decisive call brought back memories of a walk-off moment from the 2003 season. In a Monday night game at Tampa Bay, Indy rallied from a 21-point deficit in the final five minutes to force overtime and won 38-35 when Mike Vanderjagt missed a medium-range field goal, only to get a second chance when Buccaneers defensive lineman Simeon Rice was called for leaping. The 15-yard penalty set up an easy, game-ending 29-yarder.

This time, with the Colts needing a field goal to win, coach Shane Steichen played it conservatively.

He ran the ball seven times on the eight plays preceding Spencer's first kick, and when Jonathan Taylor was tackled for a loss on third down, it meant Shrader's first attempt would come from 60 yards. His previous career long was 45 yards, and the franchise record of 58 has stood since 1962.

When Shrader’s first kick fell short, the Broncos celebrated — until they saw the flag.

“Look, we understand the rule,” Payton said. “You can’t do that to the long snapper. You can’t grab and pull guys down. And you can’t push off another player.”

And Shrader made the Broncos pay.

“I looked up, I saw it going through and it was like — bang,” he said. “It was just joy. That's the only emotion that you're feeling.”

Payton accepts blame after Broncos' special teams miscues lead to a loss at Indianapolis

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Darren Rizzi is off to a rough start as the Denver Broncos' new special teams coordinator.

The Broncos got away with a pair of big blunders in the opener when All-Pro Marvin Mims Jr. muffed a punt and the Broncos allowed a 71-yard kickoff return, but they paid dearly Sunday for a pair of special teams blemishes that cost them a win at Indianapolis.

Wil Lutz clanked a 42-yard field goal attempt off the right upright with 3:15 remaining and Denver (1-1) clinging to a 28-26 lead. That meant Indy needed only a field goal to win it, which they did on a do-over after a penalty on linebacker Dondrea Tillman negated a 60-yard miss as time expired and moved the ball well within Spencer Shrader's range.

Coach Sean Payton absolved Rizzi and Tillman on Monday, saying he should have backed off the aggressive call to try to block the 60-yard attempt.

Payton explained that Tillman wasn’t supposed to both push down his opponent and try to leap over him, but there was a misalignment as the Colts switched up their field goal protection unit and Tillman was correctly called for pushing off another player to try to block the kick.

“Before any and all that, though, we should be working a normal rush, a normal interior rush with a 60-yard attempt,” Payton said.

“That’s on me. It’s not on Darren. It’s not on Tillman," Payton said. "With a 60-yard field goal attempt, it’s different. The alignment got wrong and the call was correct. ... But my big regret flying home was that’s more for a closer field goal. That’s more for a gimme than a 60-yard attempt, and that’s on me.”

Shrader nailed the 45-yard do-over to send Denver to another loss like the one last year at Kansas City when Lutz’s chip-shot attempt was blocked with no time remaining, allowing the Chiefs to escape with an improbable win after several Chiefs bowled over Broncos lineman Alex Forsyth.

Just like last year with Forsyth, Payton is making sure Tillman doesn't take all the flack.

His teammates had his back after the game.

“He doesn’t have to be worried about it,” Nik Bonitto said. “I mean, at the end of the day, we’re all human. Everybody makes mistakes. He thought what he was trying to do was to make a play for the team, help us win the game. And if they call the flag, I mean, he had the right intent. It’s not like he went out there trying to lose the game.

"At the end of the day, it is what it is. They call what they call. We’ve got to move on.”

And clean things up, not only on special teams, either.

The offense sputtered with a chance to take control, committing a costly penalty and a turnover late in the game. The defense didn't get its usual pressure and star cornerback Patrick Surtain II got way more work than usual as the Colts didn't shy away from him like most teams do.

"There’s no way we should have lost that game,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. "We had probably six or seven opportunities in the second half to end it, and we didn’t. Coach said it best right after the game — you’ve got to learn to win. But, in order to do that, you’ve got to stop losing, and we gave that game away.”

What’s working

Red zone efficiency. The Broncos scored touchdowns on all three of their trips inside the Colts' 20-yard line.

What needs help

Finishing. The Broncos came up empty on their final three drives with golden opportunities to extend their lead and ice the win.

Stock up

Troy Franklin continues his rise as the Broncos' No. 2 wide receiver with eight catches in nine targets for 89 yards and a touchdown.

Stock down

Special teams, for the second straight week. No matter who's to blame, this unit needs to clean things up for the Broncos to bounce back and have the fast September start Payton has been preaching.

Injuries

Nothing significant, but getting ILB Dre Greenlaw back from a troublesome quad injury would certainly help.

Key number

1—Sack by Denver, which had a half-dozen sacks in the opener. This one came on a blitz from inside linebacker Justin Strnad.

Next steps

The Broncos visit the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

Merrill hits 3-run homer as the Padres outlast Moniak and the Rockies 9-6

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jackson Merrill hit a three-run home run and the San Diego Padres withstood a career-high, five-RBIs performance by Mickey Moniak to beat the lowly Colorado Rockies 9-6 on Sunday and take three of four.

San Diego came in trailing the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers by 2 1/2 games in the NL West. The Padres hold the second of three National League wild cards. The Rockies have the worst record in the majors at 41-109.

Moniak went 4 for 4 with two homers and an RBI single, and stole two bases. He starred at La Costa Canyon High in Carlsbad before being taken by Philadelphia with the No. 1 pick overall in the 2016 amateur draft.

With the Rockies trailing 7-0, Moniak hit a leadoff shot off Yu Darvish (4-5) in the fourth. After Darvish put two runners on opening the sixth, reliever Jeremiah Estrada came on and Moniak greeted him with a three-run shot, his 21st.

Ezequiel Tovar hit an RBI double with two outs in the seventh and Moniak singled him in to pull the Rockies to 7-6.

San Diego's Gavin Sheets hit a two-run double in the eighth.

Merrill's opposite-field shot to left off Germán Márquez (3-14) gave the Padres a 6-0 lead with no outs in the second.

San Diego took a 3-0 lead in the first on four singles and a walk, including Jake Cronenworth's bases-loaded RBI bunt single and Jose Iglesias's two-run base hit.

Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer was ejected by plate umpire James Jean after Kyle Farmer took a called third strike for the third out.

Key moment

With a runner on first and Moniak on deck, Robert Suarez struck out Tovar for his 38th save.

Key stat

The Padres scored 95 runs in 13 games against the Rockies this season.

Up next

Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (4-15, 4.97 ERA) is set to start Tuesday night against the Marlins.

Padres RHP Michael King (4-2, 2.87) is expected to start Tuesday night at the New York Mets.