2. Week 13 loss to the Dallas Cowboys
Fast forward 12 weeks and the Indianapolis Colts changed a lot. They got a new coach and a new offensive coordinator and switched quarterbacks twice going from Ryan to Sam Ehlinger and then back to Ryan. Up to this point, the team only had four wins. Only one of these wins came after the team handed the reigns over to Jeff Saturday after their Week 9 loss to the New England Patriots (26-3).
Entering Sunday night they were on a two-game losing streak, but this game would set the tone for the rest of the season. The Colts finished the first quarter with 10 points to the Cowboy’s seven. The defense seemed to be keeping Dallas’ offense at bay. They started to crack in the second quarter allowing them to score 14 points to the Colts’ 3. That left the score 13-21 at halftime.
Indianapolis came out and scored the only points in the third quarter with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Ryan to Alec Pierce. They went for two but ultimately failed. Entering the fourth quarter with a score of 19-21 the game should have come down to the wire. However, everything quickly unraveled for Indy. Dallas scored 33 unanswered points to run the score up to 54-19. This game was embarrassing based on the score let alone the fact that it was on national television, adding to the constant media cycle the Colts had been in all season.