2 winners (and 3 losers) from the Indianapolis Colts' loss to the Denver Broncos

The Indianapolis Colts probably won't be going to the playoffs this year - not after a brutal Week 15 loss to the Denver Broncos. It was a game that, judging by the first half, the Colts had in the bag. The defense kept Bo Nix and the Broncos from being productive at all. The offense was running smoothly, for the most part; while there was nothing extraordinary, they were moving down the field and scoring points. Then Jonathan Taylor dropped the ball on their first drive in the third quarter, giving the Broncos a touchback, and the Colts offense imploded.

It was ugly. It was embarrassing. It left fans both disgusted and furious. Yet believe it or not, it wasn't all bad. There were a few bright spots in an otherwise sewer-worthy Sunday, a few stars shining among the duds.

Winner: The entire Colts defense

You gotta hand it to Gus Bradley: just when everyone is clamoring for him to be fired, his defense turns around and performs like this. They dominated the Broncos offense, getting three interceptions from Bo Nix, one sack, and numerous tackles for loss, not to mention holding the Broncos offense to just 10 points over three quarters.

The defense kept the Broncos offense off the field as much -- despite losing, the Colts still had more time of possession than the Broncos did -- and held them to just 3.2 yards per play. Jonathan Taylor alone had more rushing yards than the entire Broncos team did combined. The defense did a phenomenal job, even with all that was being placed on their shoulders, particularly in the second half. But the defense kept giving the Colts every chance they could to win this game. It's surprising, considering how poorly this defense has played this season, but they looked like an elite unit on Sunday.

Standouts: Zaire Franklin, Nick Cross, DeForest Buckner

Loser: Jonathan Taylor

It could be argued that Taylor cost the Colts the win with a monumental mistake that the veteran running back does not normally make. In the Colts' first drive of the second half, Taylor easily broke past the Colts defense and ran for an astonishing 41 yards and a touchdown.

Only it wasn't a touchdown. Taylor let the ball slip out of his hands just before passing the pylons, so the referees reviewed the play and declared it a fumble and a touchback. Instead of being in the lead by 13 points, the Colts offense saw their momentum come to a screeching halt, and they never quite recovered.

Winner: Run game

The offense didn't have much to brag about Sunday, but between Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor, the run game was on point - especially in the first half, when Shane Steichen was calling for more lateral runs, instead of trying to run through the center.

Still, they had over twice as many rushing yards as the Broncos did, who averaged a measly 2.7 yards per carry. Taylor had another 100+ yard day, Richardson contributed another 46 yards, and it altogether highlighted why the Colts need to focus more on their own motto: Run The Damn Ball.

Loser: Everything else on the offense

There wasn't much that went right with the Colts offense on Sunday. As promising as they started off in the first quarter, it ended up being a disaster on virtually every front.

Anthony Richardson began making terrible passes, including two interceptions. When he did throw the ball to the receivers, they couldn't hold onto it. And then there's the offensive line, which, sure, has been plagued by injuries, but they may as well have not even shown up at all. Richardson spent the entire game doing the best he could to fight off sacks, but even the most athletic player in the entire NFL couldn't do it forever. He got sacked twice, and in the meantime, when he wasn't being sacked and actually did have time, no one would be open and inevitably, he would come under pressure and have to throw the ball away.

Overall, this offense had very little that was good about it on Sunday.

Loser: Shane Steichen

Steichen's play-calling has been criticized all season, and those criticisms have gotten even louder after Sunday's loss. At this point, he has garnered himself a reputation as someone who can come up with genius plays, but lacks the awareness of how to execute them, what's going on in the game around him, and the reality of who his players are and what they can accomplish. Anthony Richardson's treatment throughout the season is a prime example of that, with Steichen spending a lot of time ignoring his QB's dual-threat capabilities, and trying to force him into a Joe Flacco-esque pocket passer. And it got worse Sunday.

Look no further than that notoriously awful trick-play call, which took place in the fourth quarter. The Broncos didn't yet have much of a lead; the game was still competitive, but the offense was struggling. Alec Pierce had left the game with a concussion, putting rookie Adonai Mitchell in as starter. Mitchell has struggled mightily this season, and struggled during the Broncos game, dropping passes and failing to make plays.

Did any of that matter to Steichen? Nope. He looked at the situation and decided that it was time to try the trick play, with a rookie who barely knows what he's doing, an offensive line that can't block, and a QB who had been struggling. It ended in a pick-six, and buried any chance the Colts had of clawing their way back to victory.

To make matters worse, Steichen seemed unfazed afterwards, and shrugged off the notion that it was a terrible play to call. Instead, all he had to say was that he didn't think Mitchell "saw the guy" and that it had gone well in practice.

That's not a head coach who is going to fix anything.