Taylor Heinicke leads Falcons to impressive win over Colts

“He kept the offense in rhythm,” Smith said. “We wanted to be aggressive and certainly execute the plan. It helps that he’s got a lot of experience. You could feel it. He got into a lot of drives. Lot of guys contributed. I thought he did a phenomenal job today.”

The Falcons improved to 7-8 on the season, while the Colts dropped to 8-7. The victory over the Colts was the Falcons’ second win this over a team with a winning record. They beat Houston 21-19 on Oct. 8.

The Colts were one of the hotter teams in the NFL. They had won five of their previous six games.

Heinicke made some pretty handoffs as the Falcons’ three-headed running back set led an attack that rushed 30 times for 177 yards and a touchdown.

Heinicke connected on 23 of 33 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown. He finished with a passer rating of 99.2. He directed two touchdown drives, and kicker Younghoe Koo added five field goals.

“It was a pretty clean game,” Heinicke said. “Obviously, that’s what we were trying to do. That’s been the story of the season so far, turnovers and self-inflicted wounds. That was kind of our message this week. Hey, let’s not beat ourselves. Let’s make them beat us.”

The Colts weren’t up to the challenge.

Most important, Heinicke didn’t turn the ball over. He did pounce of a fumble shotgun snap, threw a nifty block and didn’t have an interception.

“We played a pretty clean game,” Heinicke said. “I tried to get the ball out of my hands quick, let those playmakers do their thing. We want to punch it in a little more when we get down there, but a win is a win. We’re happy.”

The Falcons defense also got after Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew, as they had a season-high six sacks. Running back Jonathan Taylor returned after a thumb injury, but was held to 43 yards on 18 carries (2.4 per carry).

“I made sure that I let guys know that he’s different,” defensive Calais Campbell said. “I’ve gone against him before and his speed is different. Do not take it lightly.”

The defenders listened to Campbell’s message. They had eight tackles for losses and got to Taylor before he got rolling.

“A lot of it was setting the edges and make sure he stopped his feet before he had a chance to get going,” Campbell said. “You saw in the backfield that he was stomping his feet a lot. A couple of times he still squirted through, but it was 5 or 4 yards, which you can live with. You didn’t want to give him those big holes where he can get 20, make a guy miss and then take it to the house.”

The previous high was five sacks against Washington on Oct. 5.

Behind some timely passing from Heinicke, the Falcons held a 13-7 lead at halftime.

The Colts scored on their opening drive when Taylor plunged into the end zone from a yard out to cap 13-play, 75-yard drive that took 5:06 off the clock.

The Falcons’ offense answered quickly.

Robinson broke loose for a 32-yard run, his second longest run of the season. On the next play, Heinicke found tight end Kyle Pitts in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown. It was a five-play, 75-yard drive. Heinicke was 3-of-4 passing for 43 yards in the drive.

The action stalled, and the Colts punted on their next three possessions and the Falcons punted on two.

The Falcons got the ball with 9:36 left in the second quarter on their 14-yard line. Heinicke moved the Falcons into position for a 49-yard field goal attempt by Koo. It hit the right upright, but the Colts were offsides.

The Falcons picked up the fourth down-and-1 on a strong run by Cordarrelle Patterson. The drive eventually stalled on the Colts’ 5-yard line, and Koo made a 23-yard field goal to put the Falcons up 10-7.

The Falcons forced a three-and-out ,and Heinicke drove the Falcons into position for a 47-yard field goal. Koo made it with five seconds left on the clock for the halftime margin.

The Falcons opened the second half, with a strong drive that included Heinicke throwing a block for Robinson. His block fired up the sidelines as players were jumping around and waving towels.

“I didn’t really anticipate blocking today,” Heinicke said. “But I handed the ball off and carried out by fake. He was reversing field.”

Heinicke hustled on outside and put a block on a Colts cornerback.

“I hope it looked better than it felt,” Heinicke said. “I haven’t seen it yet. Anything to get guys going, a lot of juice. That was cool.”

After Patterson softened up the Colts’ defense with runs of 11, 6 and 6 yards, Allgeier hit the right corner and scored on a 31-yard run. Koo put the Falcons up 20-7.

“That’s what you want,” Smith said. “That’s a 10-point swing. That’s how you win games and control those situations.”

The Colts answered with a Matt Gay field goal from 33 yards out to make the score 20-10.

The Falcons went back on the move and took their lead into the fourth quarter. Koo made a 41-yard field goal to make the score 23-10 with 14:06 left to play.

The Falcons held on a fourth-and-5 from their 38 as safety Jessie Bates III batted up a pass intended for D.J. Montgomery. Richie Grant nearly intercepted it.

The offense returned to the field with 10:02 to play, but were forced to punt. Bates intercepted Minshew with 7:57 to play to get the ball back to the offense. Koo added a 35-yard field with 5:46 to play.

After another stop on downs, Koo added a 25-yard field goal.

“You know how the season goes, we just had to focus on how bad we needed that win,” Smith said. “Not only late in the year. It’s good to win this time of the year and to be in it. ... It’s the holiday season, and we’re headed back to work. We have to get ready for Chicago.”

The Falcons are set to play the Bears at 1 p.m. Sunday at Soldier Field in Chicago.

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