Colts did something against Broncos that has only ever been done one other time in NFL history
The Indianapolis Colts had a very ugly win against the Denver Broncos on Thursday and it’s one that will be in the record books.
For anyone that made it to the end of Thursday night’s game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos, congratulations, you watched history. While it was evident that the game was ugly for both teams, Indianapolis was the squad that found a way to be victorious at the end of the night. It turns out that the ugly win by Indy made the Colts the second team in history to pull off a special feat.
Following the game, ESPN highlighted that Indianapolis was the second team in league history to win a game without scoring a touchdown while also throwing multiple interceptions and giving up at least six sacks. The only other time it happened was in 1973 when the Cleveland Browns defeated the New York Giants 12-10.
While being cemented in history is usually a goal, this isn’t necessarily the best category to attach your team to. What is it really saying? That a team played horribly but showed some resiliency to ultimately pull the game out? What it says about the Colts is that they have a lot of things they need to fix moving forward.
Colts became a part of some ugly history on Thursday against Broncos
That 1973 Cleveland team finished the season 7-5-2 and missed the playoffs. With one tie already on its record, Indianapolis could be headed to the same fate if it doesn’t clean things up. The biggest things that must change are the same things that helped Indy make this history.
Matt Ryan has to start acting like the veteran quarterback that had the Colts excited when he first arrived. In order for that to happen, he must stop making careless turnovers. The interceptions he’s thrown and the balls he’s fumbled are simply inexcusable. His play must improve and that process can be helped if the offensive line also improves.
Indianapolis has been consistently rearranging the line looking for the best combination of players and they still gave up six sacks on Thursday. That moves them to 19 total sacks allowed on the season. There won’t be much production from an offense when the quarterback is under that much pressure.
The only way this offense will start scoring touchdowns is if the offensive line figures out how to block defenders and Matt Ryan remembers how to protect the football. Until those things happen, the Colts will be in plenty more ugly games and they won’t always find a way to win.