I think going into the Colts' game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the team generally had a good feeling about playing a Chiefs team that was still a very good team but just hadn't played up to their expectations. I think the Colts had a good feeling that, if they could play like they had been playing over the last 10 weeks, they could go into Arrowhead and beat the Chiefs.
Unfortunately, their mistakes and penalties doomed them in regard to coming out of Sunday's game with a victory.
With penalties, you're really just hurting yourself there. I think back to the first drive of the game when the Colts had the ball; they had three penalties on that drive alone that stalled the drive, and they eventually had to punt. They were moving the ball pretty well, but then when you have penalties and self-inflicted wounds, it just makes it that much more difficult to continue to get first downs, move the ball down the field, and score points.
In the second half, especially toward the end of the game, we saw the Chiefs get a little more pressure on Daniel Jones, making it more difficult to complete some passes. But you've got to give the Chiefs credit: the times that Jonathan Taylor did run the ball, he didn't have much room to run. They minimized his effectiveness in the second half, holding him to nine carries for 34 yards.
And, like I said, that consistent pressure on Jones made a big impact. In the first half, Jones was 10-of-12 for 94 yards. In the second half and overtime, he was 9-of-19 for 87 yards.
With that, the Colts just weren't able to sustain any drives and the Colts defense ended up being on the field for just over 42 minutes of game time.
It's a combination of offense and defense, because the defense couldn't get the Chiefs off the field on third down, so the Chiefs sustained drives and moved the ball down the field. And with the Colts offense not getting first downs and going three-and-out four times in the fourth quarter and in overtime, you're just putting that much more pressure on the defense.
It tires the defense out. You can say what you want, but being on the field for almost 45 minutes is just a long time to try to stop a team like the Chiefs. If you keep giving them more opportunities, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid are going to figure it out.
As a player, looking at this game, my biggest takeaway would be this: you had an opportunity to put the team away, and you didn't do that. Up 20-9 going into the fourth quarter, you had an opportunity. If you take one or two of those drives and score, it makes it that much more difficult for the Chiefs to come back.
As a player, you have to realize when the opportunity comes to put a team away, you have to put a team away. You can't give them second life.
And as a competitor, it's one of those things where it would be hard to accept the outcome of the game because you know that at times you played well enough to secure and win the game, but you didn't do enough in the end as a team.
Looking quickly at the upcoming AFC South games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans, this loss – and the Colts now being 8-3 – makes these upcoming games important.
They're naturally bigger because they're division opponents, and you know how close those guys are. The Jaguars are one game behind you and the Texans are two – so those games are huge. The Colts should approach these games as division games and also games you want to play well in as you close out the regular season.
Looking at one key moment
I wouldn't say there was one key play that stood out to me from this game, but rather one key drive: the Colts' last offensive possession in the fourth quarter with 5:45 left on the clock.
The drive went like this:
- 1st & 10: Jones incomplete pass to Tyler Warren
- 2nd & 10: Jones incomplete pass to Tyler Warren
- 3rd & 10: Michael Pittman Jr. six-yard completion
- 4th & 4: Colts called for delay of game and five-yard penalty, leads to punt
That drive took only one minute and two seconds off the clock, giving the ball back to the Chiefs with four minutes and 43 seconds left.
The Colts were unable to convert on third down and didn't want to risk turning the ball over to the Chiefs and spotting them at their own 45-yard line – so they punted. That led to the Chiefs scoring a field goal to tie the game to take it to overtime. Simply put, the Colts had to convert on third down here, and they were unable to do it.
