Colts loss overshadowed an all-time great performance from Grover Stewart
By Dailey Gee
The Indianapolis Colts dropped another game to the Tennessee Titans but defensive tackle Grover Stewart had an elite performance.
The Indianapolis Colts came up short again to the Tennessee Titans for the second time this season. There was not much good to take away from the game. The Colts lost the turnover battle 3-1 and only put up one touchdown on offense. This also made Tennessee’s fifth-straight win over Indianapolis.
The loss forced Indy to shake things up as the team announced that Matt Ryan will be benched and Sam Ehlingher will be starting for the remainder of the year. You have to imagine that even more people are on the hot seat as well. That could be players, coaches, and people in the front office. Regardless, it wasn’t much good about Sunday’s game.
The one beneficial thing that you can take away from the game is the way that the defense bent, but never broke. They did their job and the defense was led by defensive tackle Grover Stewart and an all-time great performance.
Per #Colts PR, Grover Stewart totaled a career-high 12 tackles, which are the most by a Colts DT since at least 1994. They're also the most tackles by a DT in a game in the NFL this season.
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) October 23, 2022
Grover Stewart had an unreal impact against the Titans
I thought the Colts did a pretty good job on the defensive end limiting Derrick Henry for the most part throughout the game. The Colts also did a decent job getting pressure on Ryan Tannehill and limiting him. In fact, Tennessee’s only touchdown came on a defensive score when Matt Ryan threw a pick-six in the second quarter.
Indy’s defensive dominance was spearheaded by the defensive line and more specifically Grover Stewart. Stewart finished the game with a career-high 12 tackles. Per Indy’s PR, this is the first time a Colts defensive tackle has done that since 1994.
Stewart proved against the Titans that he has been worth every penny that Indianapolis spent to keep him here. He and DeForest Buckner are the perfect pair on the interior defensive line. I think that they may be the best duo at that position in the league. There were lots of runs that the Titans had that went for one to two yards and Stewart was on the end of those tackles. The loss was definitely not on the part of Stewart.
Grover Stewart has been great for the Colts all year
Many people may say that this game was just a fluke and that Stewart will not be able to keep this up throughout the season. I think those people are wrong. Stewart always seems to be making a play in the run game. One of the things that he does that does not show up on the stat sheet is move his man back. He has to be one of the harder guys to block in the NFL. He has a 6-foot-4, 315-pound frame that is hard to move.
On the season, Stewart has 35 tackles, three for loss, three QB hits, and two sacks. If he is able to continue to play half the way that he has, he should see an invite to play in the Pro Bowl. He is putting up numbers with some of the elite defensive linemen in the league. It is a shame that the Colts could not pull off the win on the road against the Titans for Stewart’s sake. He was one of the only Colts that seemed to come to play.
