Colts: 3 embarrassing Carson Wentz moments that lost Indy AFC South

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:

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.

2. Carson Wentz’s Nightmarish Goal-Line Interception

Sure, this game eventually got to overtime because the Colts got bailed out with a goal-line pass interference play and recalled — at the perfect time! — that they possessed Jonathan Taylor on their offensive depth chart.

It had no business reaching the extra session, though, because karmically, it really should’ve ended the second Wentz found himself catching his breath for a potential game-winning drive …only to flail in the end zone, narrowly avoid a safety, then flip a backhand toss in the air at ~3 MPH that landed directly in the arms of a leaping Titan.

Pick six. We understand if you don’t want to watch this again, but this article really deserves a visual supplement to fully drive the point home.

Wentz had protection for the hottest of seconds, but even after it broke down, he still had a golden opportunity to chuck the ball at his lineman’s feet and reset. See him right there? No. 78, he’s large, you can’t miss him.

Instead, he decided he still had enough gumption left in his bones, dammit, to make something happen. What happened was an old-school Wentz disaster, the type of decision-making lapse we’d been repeatedly assured he had overcome after joining his old friend Frank Reich in Indianapolis.

Hopefully — hopefully — this doesn’t become a trend. Maybe it was a one-time, late-game streak of being flustered.

Or maybe Wentz never changed at all, and he could decide at any moment to hand a victory — quite literally — to his top rival, essentially solidifying Indy’s place on the outside looking in from the division race. Forget the fact that the Colts used the final minute of regulation to work their way into the end zone. This should be the enduring memory of this game.

Well, this, and one other play.

1. Carson Wentz’s Overtime Pick

The goal-line flip was something special — well, actually, it wasn’t. Wentz tried a similar shovel pass in overtime, too. He learned absolutely no lessons from escaping disaster by the skin of his teeth.

The interception that actually ended the game? That was just classic incompetence.

No pressure bearing down on him. The teeth of the defense wasn’t approaching. Wentz was actually firmly in control of the situation.

1st & 10. Just under 6:00 left in overtime. A tie looming, sure, but a golden chance to secure an easy victory with a solid drive capped by a field goal. Both offenses had already touched the ball and failed.

Everybody understood the assignment … except Wentz.

Kevin Byard came up with this, and he’s lucky he did. After all, he was one of three Titans defensive backs in the area, and any one of them could’ve had the moment of glory. But nope. Kevin grabbed it. Congrats, Kevin!

The last time the Colts faced off with the Titans and took a loss, Wentz was very much hobbled, miraculously “recovered” from his multiple ankle sprains just in time to take a feckless 25-16 loss that knocked Indy down to 0-3.

Sunday, though, was supposed to be all about redemption — and it looked like it might be, as the first quarter wrapped.

Instead, the seeds of doubt were sown at the end of the first half, then watered throughout the third before they sprouted repeatedly during the game’s final minutes, growing unabated up the side of Lucas Oil Stadium like an invasive species.

Carson Wentz isn’t very good. Sometimes, he forgets this. At the least opportune time, though, he’ll remember, and Sunday’s series of lapses cost the 2021 Colts the division.

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