It wasn’t pretty but the Colts got their 3rd win and moved to .500 on the season. It was Joe Flacco who led this team to victory on the heels of a strong defensive effort (yes, this defense) in the 4th quarter. Anthony Richardson was a surprise inactive after practicing in some capacity all week. Head Coach Shane Steichen did say on a post-game presser that Richardson “wasn’t there yet” and that decision was made late in the week. Jonathan Taylor was ruled out as well and the ground game struggled to make a difference. A majestic Rigoberto Sanchez coffin corner punt that landed at the 3-yard line prevented Tennessee from any miracle drive. Let’s dive into a quick recap of Sunday’s crucial divisional road victory.
The Defense Closed Out The Game
I am not the only one who wrote about how bad this defense has been this season. In fact, after the long TD run by Tony Pollard in the 3rd quarter on 3rd and long, I was ready to finally write the Gus Bradley obituary for his Colts tenure. I felt that play was rock bottom for them, and they seemed poised to a 2-4 record and fans just giving up on the 2024 season.
Then something happened, and this defense completely changed. In the next five possessions, the defense forced 3 punts, one turnover, and a final drive clock run out. Is there some criticism to be doled out? Absolutely. The pass rush has become non-existent in the past two weeks with zero sacks. The run defense was still shaky in that first half and into the second half. However, when this defense needed to buckle down and get some stops, they did it.
The Colts’ defense held Will Levis to 95 yards passing (with zero sacks) and kept their star receiver Calvin Ridley to zeroes on the board in catches and yards. They made Will Levis go out and win the game and as expected, he could not do it. Could this be the turning point for this Colts defense? Sometimes a unit just needs to execute and dominate to get back their confidence and this might be that moment.
Tyler Goodson Shines Over Trey Sermon
The box score (and eye test) favored Tyler Goodson over Trey Sermon this week. With Jonathan Taylor missing another week, it was Trey Sermon getting the start. Throughout the game, it was clear that Goodson was playing better ball than Sermon. Goodson finished with 51 yards on the ground on 8 carries. Sermon finished with 29 yards on 18 carries. Drastically different numbers and impact.
Sermon could never get a groove going and the Titans’ defense continued to be stout against him, but Goodson was able to find some holes and exploit them. Goodson is that typical “change of pace” back, but Goodson has the speed and elusiveness to see more playing time. The discussion for more playing time for Goodson should happen even if Jonathan Taylor returns this week.
Offense Was Good (Not Great) But Titans Self Inflicted Wounds Helped
With the absence of Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor, we saw more passing again this week. Joe Flacco is never flashy, but he is reliable and can manage a game with the best of them. Flacco kept the offense moving most of the game in the air. He did have one horrendous interception, but he put the pass catchers in spots to be successful. The Pittman TD catch was marvelous, and the first-quarter TD throw to Josh Downs was superb. Flacco saw the mismatch Downs had against a linebacker and made a perfect throw to the corner.
We saw Trey Sermon struggle on the ground and could not get anything going. Goodson was the difference and allowed them to open up the offense. Steichen seemed to be too reliant on Sermon when he couldn’t get anything going and it made no sense, especially in a game that close.
The Colts did get some gifts from the Titans with their penalties. If you dive into the stats a little deeper, you see how punishing these penalties were. The Colts had 20 total first downs in the game. Of those 20, 5 of those first downs were from Titans penalties. Tennessee finished with 11 penalties for 113 total yards. You cannot win football games with so many penalties.
We have yet to see this franchise put together a complete game on either side of the ball and until they can do that, this team will continue to make the fanbase sweat out victories and losses. The Colts return home this weekend to host the Tua-less Miami Dolphins. The opportunity to build on this win and continue their growth is paramount if they want to turn that corner and really try to make a playoff run.
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