Sunday’s Halloween showdown between the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans will not be forgotten by either fan base anytime soon.
For the Titans, it was the gutsiest of gutsy road outings, featuring an overtime recovery from a tragic goal-line pass interference call that threatened to flip the game yet again in its final minutes.
For the Colts? It was the afternoon when Carson Wentz seemingly turned back into a pumpkin — at what should’ve been the height of his injury recovery, too.
Occasionally, he made spectacular plays, airing the ball out on the run in the ways we were promised. But when push came to shove, this began to look much more like a late Eagles-era Wentz performance, packed with baffling decisions, missed throws and game-breaking picks that, whether you want to believe the broadcast or not, had very little to do with his supporting cast.
In other words, no, TY Hilton’s absence was not the reason Wentz started relying on the hurried shovel pass to nobody multiple times down the stretch of this one.
Earlier in the game, the discourse sounded like this:
Carson Wentz is the only quarterback in the @NFL with more than 14 touchdowns & less than 1 interception.
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) October 31, 2021
Wentz is on pace for the fewest interceptions of his career & the 2nd most TD’s of his career
Wentz was never broken, it was user error. #Colts
Late in the game? Welp.
When Khari Willis was ruled officially out during the final minutes of the third quarter, that left the Colts without two of their starting safeties — something we knew deep down, but something that became especially glaring late in the game. If the defense wasn’t going to be breathing fire, the offense certainly had to be above average.
During winning time, it distinctly wasn’t. And most of the failure falls on Wentz’s (supposedly healthy) shoulders, which probably cost Indianapolis a chance at the AFC South crown (special shoutout to Chris Reed and Braden Smith, though).
After this baffling loss, they’re now three full games back (and four if you count the tiebreaker).
These 3 Carson Wentz moments vs the Titans ruined the Colts’ chances at the AFC South.
3. Carson Wentz’s Crucial Missed Throws
We touched on this at halftime — and who knew this moment would still be a major factor in the game when it concluded?!
We did? Because it was glaringly obvious? Got it.
Up 14-0 (yes, that was the reality of this game at some point), Wentz had two shots on third and fourth down to move Indy into field goal territory with a chance to go up three scores. On the first one, he overshot TY Hilton in the end zone — whose later absence certainly made this Halloween loss a whole lot spookier.
Garden variety mistake. Terrible throw, but we understand. It happens.
On the next toss, he aimed for Michael Pittman Jr. on the left side, and there was a seam available for the completion. Alas, Wentz’s throw sailed so far over Pittman’s head that it was unclear whether the pass was even targeted for his top option.
No need to dance around this early-game missed opportunity any further. Needless to say, it was enough to make you bang your head into the goal post a la our beloved mascot, and it immediately resulted in a touchdown drive for the other side.