The Indianapolis Colts almost completed an incredible comeback in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Rams, but there were some failures Indy couldn’t overcome.
By Jaleel Grandberry
The Indianapolis Colts can be criticized for a lot, but no one can accuse them of not being relentless. Over the last two weeks, Indy has proven that it’s a team that will fight to the final whistle. In Week 3, it was a gritty overtime win against the Baltimore Ravens that showed that, and in Week 4, it was an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Yes, the Colts ultimately lost the game 29-23, but Indy almost completed an epic comeback. Indianapolis was trailing the game 20-0 at halftime, and was even down as much as 23-0. However, they fought back into the game, tying it at 23 at the end or regulation. Unfortunately, Indy loss in overtime.
In the end, Indianapolis wasn’t able to overcome various embarrassing moments throughout the game. Let’s take a look at some of the things that led to this Week 4 loss for the Colts.
3) Colts had too many costly mistakes
From the very first drive of the game, Indianapolis was making the kind of avoidable mistakes that lose games. It all started when Indy was about to force the Rams to punt on the first drive. On a third down, Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford ran out of bounds, well short of the first-down marker, but Colts linebacker EJ Speed hit him late. That kept the drive alive, and the Rams eventually scored.
That was only the start. Anthony Richardson lost a fumble on a promising drive, Matt Gay missed a field goal, and Indy went on to have many more costly penalties throughout the game. The Colts finished the game with eight penalties for 80 yards, helping the opposing team out a lot.
The reason teams usually have to make comebacks is that they make mistakes that lead to an early deficit. That’s exactly what happened to Indy, and they couldn’t overcome those mistakes.
2) Colts couldn’t stop Puka Nacua
In fairness to Indianapolis, no one has really been able to stop Puka Nacua. The rookie wide receiver has been setting records throughout his first four games. Even still, that’s no excuse. Indianapolis knew Nacua was the No. 1 option for the Rams coming into Sunday’s game, and it didn’t look like Indy even had a plan to slow him down.
Nacua finished the game with 10 targets, nine receptions, 163 yards, and a game-winning touchdown in overtime. He and Matthew Stafford connected whenever they wanted, and the defense had no answer. Because of their youth, the secondary for the Colts was expected to struggle this year, but there’s still no excuse for letting one player dominate like that.
It was just an overall bad day for the pass defense. Stafford completed 27-of-40 passes for 319 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. While Stafford is a pretty good quarterback that can make unreal throws, he often found his receivers with a lot of space around them on Sunday. Colts have to be better against the pass to consistently win games.
1) Colts’ run defense was bullied by the Rams
This was the most embarrassing, and unbelievable part of Sunday’s game. The secondary struggling is, unfortunately, kind of expected. The offense having miscues is also to be expected with a rooking quarterback running the show. However, the group with the most veterans, and established dominance, that Indy should be able to lean on, is the run defense.
On Sunday, that run defense was no where to be found. The Rams ran the ball 36 times for 164 yards and two touchdowns. It wasn’t even like Los Angeles just broke off some flukey long runs because of a few bad run fits. No. The Colts were consistently being moved off the ball and run through. The Rams were having their way.
You don’t expect to see that when Indy’s defensive line has elite defensive tackles like DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart, and the elite linebacker unit behind them has Zaire Franklin, Shaquille Leonard, and EJ Speed. It wasn’t their day though, and if Indy can’t stop the run, the team probably won’t do much well.
The Colts came very close to making all these failures underlying themes in a tough win, but in the end, these very issues are why Indianapolis is now 2-2.
Originally posted on horseshoeheroes.com