Colts vs. Buccaneers: Offense grades

The offense put up a ton of points, scoring 35 points. And yet, it wasn’t enough to win in a game the Colts had to have.

It should’ve been an easy win. Anytime you score 35 points in the NFL, you expect to win. Yet the Colts didn’t score the last 21 minutes of the game. They curled up in their shell and got super conservative, and it cost them. Here is how each unit graded in this loss.

Jacoby Brissett didn’t lose this game for the Colts, which is an improvement from the last few games he’s played. He was only 19/36 for 251 yards and 2 touchdowns. In the second half, he was much more erratic. Because of that, it gave the Buccaneers an easier time coming back to win.

Marlon Mack came back and scored a touchdown in his first game since breaking his hand. He was only given the ball 13 times and ran for 38 yards. Jordan Wilkins had one carry for one yard, and Nyheim Hines had four carries for one yard. Colts running backs only carried the ball 18 times in this game.

That’s a failure on the coaching staff’s part. The Colts had a 14 point lead in the second half, and they went away from the running game. Even though they weren’t performing super well, they still should’ve run it to drain the clock a little bit.

Once again, the offensive line failed to create holes in the running game. They got pushed around by Tampa’s defensive line and never won the battle at the line of scrimmage. They were better in pass protection, only allowing one sack. But this unit has underperformed all season long.

Jack Doyle had a really nice catch on the sideline in this game. He finished with only two catches for 27 yards though. Mo Alie-Cox had a catch for 8 yards, and that was it in terms of production from the tight ends. Very surprising to not see them more involved in the game plan.

Marcus Johnson had a big game today, catching two deep bombs from Brissett. He finished with 3 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Zach Pascal continues to impress, recording 5 catches for 74 yards and a touchdown of his own. Parris Campbell had 3 catches for 12 yards in his return.

Campbell has been underwhelming all year. He had a drop in this game and hasn’t been able to stay healthy all year. Getting him back at least gives the Colts somewhat of a deep threat, although that role seems to have been filled by Johnson.

The offense played well enough to win, even if they did get conservative in the second half. But it still didn’t matter, and now this team should try to tank.