Joe Flacco relieves injured Anthony Richardson and helps Colts hold off Steelers 27-24

INDIANAPOLIS — Joe Flacco threw two touchdown passes in relief of the injured Anthony Richardson, and the Indianapolis Colts came up with a stop in the final minute to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24 on Sunday.

Justin Fields ran for two second-half scores and threw for another to cut the deficit to 27-24 with 3:40 to go. But the Steelers turned the ball over on downs when they couldn't recover from a botched snap that resulted in a 12-yard loss with less than two minutes to play.

Flacco, the 2023 Comeback Player of the Year with Cleveland, played just well enough to preserve the victory after Richardson left for the second time in four plays late in the first quarter with the Colts leading 7-0. Flacco finished 19 of 30 for 166 yards against a team he knew well from his 11 seasons with Baltimore.

Fields was 22 of 34 for 312 yards and ran 10 times for 55 yards but was but was sacked four times and lost a fumble — one of two Pittsburgh turnovers.

Richardson started fast with a 32-yard completion on the game's first play, and Jonathan Taylor capped the eight-play drive with a 2-yard TD run just three minutes into the game.

He left initially after taking a big hit to his right hip, returned two plays later, took a hard hit to his head and then headed to the locker room. By the time he returned to the sideline, he had been ruled out because of the bad hip.

Flacco had kept Indy's momentum going. He threw a 4-yard TD pass to Josh Downs and set up a 33-yard field goal to give the Colts a 17-3 halftime lead.

After Fields scored on a 5-yard run late in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 17-10, Flacco hooked up with Kylen Granson for a 15-yard TD pass. After Fields again scored, this time on a 2-yard run, to get the Steelers within 24-17 with 11:23 to play, Flacco led the Colts on a 10-play, 54-yard drive that took nearly 5 1/2 minutes and resulted in a 33-yard field goal for 27-17 cushion.

After Fields converted a third-and-goal with an 8-yard TD pass to Pat Freiermuth to get Pittsburgh within 27-24, Flacco couldn't get the first down he needed to close it out. But Fields couldn't get the Steelers past their own 41-yard line on the final possession.

Steelers: RG James Daniels, RB Cordarrelle Patterson and LB Nick Herbig both left with ankle injuries in the first half. Neither returned and Patterson was carted to the locker room. LB Nick Herbig also hurt an ankle in the first half.

Colts: Played without three starters — CB Kenny Moore II (hip) and DE Kwity Paye (quadriceps) and C Ryan Kely (neck) — and Taylor could not finish the game after hurting his ankle in the waning minutes.

Breanna Stewart scored 34 points and Sabrina Ionescu had 21 to help the New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces 87-77 on Sunday in Game 1 of their semifinals series.

Kansas City receiver Rashee Rice left the field on a cart with a knee injury Sunday after a bizarre play in which he was hit by Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes while both players were pursuing Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton during an interception return.