How Rodney Thomas II grew from a missed interception to beat the Patriots

FRANKFURT, Germany - Rodney Thomas II dropped back into his high deep safety spot right as the chaos was unfolding in front of him.

He was the last line of defense against a Patriots comeback, led by a different quarterback than the one he'd been facing all day long. He didn't know why Bailey Zappe was in and didn't care. He didn't see him try a fake spike and didn't care.

He had a play to make and 4 seconds to do it.

Somewhere deep in his soul, there was no other option.

"I'd just seen A1 (the Patriots' top receiver) pushing up the slot vertical," Thomas said as he recounted the play. "He was trying to get up and over the 'backer (Zaire Franklin) and bend it. I'd seen the QB staring at him.

"So I just flew over top of him and tried to end the game."

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In flew a second-year safety for his sixth career interception, this one the biggest yet, as he stole the ball out of the sky and slid immediately onto the grass field at Deutsche Bank Park with 31 seconds left to seal a 10-6 Colts win over the Patriots.

In flew a man who has had to live with the pain of the one that got away.

Ten months ago, Thomas had a chance at a moment just like this. A way to end a miserable Colts season by making one more play that nobody thought he would as a seventh-round rookie out of Yale. His team-high fifth interception was going to be his easiest yet.

But as Texans quarterback Davis Mills' Hail Mary pass soared through the air at Lucas Oil Stadium, suddenly the play felt not like seconds but years, and Thomas got antsy, and he jumped like a power forward after a rebound, but the ball hung in the air as the gravity dragged him down, and he watched it fly over his outstretched fingertips and into a Texans tight end's arms.

All Thomas could do was hang his head.

Houston's 32-31 last-second win over Indianapolis in Week 18 last season would become an afterthought, given that both teams' seasons were over.

Some would even call this a positive outcome: If Thomas catches that pass, his team finishes behind the Seahawks in the NFL Draft order. The Seahawks would soon become infatuated with a Florida quarterback named Anthony Richardson. And the man who is now the Colts' quarterback of the future might not have become their quarterback at all.

But none of that registered with this Yale graduate who just wanted to make a play. As Thomas spoke in a monotone voice and stared straight ahead that night, the life was hard to find. He knew he'd have to sit with the feeling for nine long months until the next chance to make a play.

"You've got to grow from bad plays. You've got to grow from good plays," Thomas said. "It doesn't matter what it is. You have to get better."

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It's a message that sunk in in part because of a meeting he had on the field that day, right after he missed the pick. Thomas looked up through quiet eyes to find Franklin, his captain, embracing him in a hug.

This was the captain who had texted him in his scariest moment, when a childhood friend named Damar Hamlin was in cardiac arrest and Thomas was driving to Cincinnati in hopes to see him awake again.

"Know I'm here for you," Franklin wrote.

Two weeks later, after Thomas' worst moment on the field, Franklin was showing it.

"When you make a play, when you come to the sideline, you can't get to the bench at all. Everybody is smacking you in the head. Everybody is congratulating you from the strength staff to everybody," Franklin said. "But when you make a bad play, it's like you got the cooties. Everybody leaving you alone. They spread like the Red Sea, and you feel it, man.

"I just always try to treat people how I want to be treated. I know what it feels like to be in those moments to miss a play that you know you should have made."

Eleven months later, Franklin was the linebacker Zappe was trying to freeze with the fake spike in order to hit the slot receiver. But Franklin didn't bite, sprinting back to force a throw to the inside, which is where Thomas exploded like a track star and launched to the catch point.

This time, he didn't miss.

A celebration could begin, and Franklin was one of the first teammates to reach him. And as they sprinted to the end zone to pose for a mostly European crowd, a circle began to close, halfway across the globe from where it once split open.

"I just wanted to let him know I got his back regardless, whether he is making a game-winning pick this week or it's a tough play another week," Franklin said.

"I've got his back no matter what."

This was a pick-me-up Thomas needed, and not just because of that Hail Mary last season. Colts coaches have been pushing him to play with more consistency in coverage and to make more splash plays.

The Colts felt like strangers here in Frankfurt this week, after a seven-hour plane ride and a six-hour time change. On Sunday, a stadium normally used for soccer was filled with Patriots jerseys, cheers and boos. For many years, New England was the one game people in Europe could get on TV.

The Colts defense had its backs against the wall, trying to win a game where its offense scored just 10 points and couldn't salt the lead away following Julian Blackmon's red-zone interception.

The defenders had to do what Franklin did for a rookie safety after the Hail Mary that ended last season.

They had to pick each other up.

Contact Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: How Rodney Thomas II sealed a win over the Patriots