On Monday morning, the Colts had the best record in the AFC. Now, 24 hours later, they have the best record in the NFL.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered their Monday night tilt against the Detroit Lions at 5-1, as the only team in the league that could match the Colts' record through the first seven weeks of the season. But thanks to a dominant defensive showing by the Lions and a stellar night from running back Jahmyr Gibbs, the Lions won 24-9 to hand the Bucs their second loss of the season.
The Colts are now officially the only six-win team in the league.
And with the Houston Texans losing to the Seattle Seahawks in the second game of Monday night's doubleheader, the Colts' control over the AFC South only grew.
With their 27-19 loss, the Texans fell to 2-4 on the season as they continue to flounder behind a porous offensive line and a wholly inconsistent offense. In keeping with the trend of the season, the defense did enough to win but had very little support on the other side of the ball, as the Texans offense didnt' even score a touchdown until less than three minutes remained in the fourth quarter.
"It was just overall sloppy play," head coach DeMeco Ryans said. "There was some positive things we did, but it was just overshadowed by the negative things. Offensively was not good enough...the main goal in this game was to control the front; we did not do that."
C.J. Stroud took seven quarterback hits and three sacks, completing 23-of-49 passes for 229 yards (4.7 yards per attempt) for a touchdown. He also threw an interception that directly led to a Seahawks scoring drive.
It wasn't just Stroud who struggled, either. The Texans only strung together a total of 56 rushing yards – Stroud led the team with 25 – and the receivers had a few costly drops.
The Texans defense held Sam Darnold to 17-of-31 for 213 yards and a touchdown and limited the Seahawks' ground game to 118 total yards. They also snagged two interceptions – and forced four total turnovers – and defensive end Will Anderson Jr. had an impressive defensive score, but that success clearly did not translate.
The Texans were also flagged for 10 penalties for 103 yards in the contest.
"We just didn't play good complimentary football at all," tackle Tytus Howard said. "I have to go look and see everything we did but, I just know we didn't play good at all today on offense. We've got to be better.
"I feel like every game we lost this season is pretty much the same way."
The Colts will play the Texans in Weeks 13 and 18; they also play the Seahawks in Week 15 at Lumen Field. The Texans next play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at NRG Stadium.
