Well, it's hard to think of a more embarrassing Indianapolis Colts loss in recent memory. This is a team that has truly hit rock bottom. The Houston Texans' early win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the London game this week left the door open for Indy to lessen the gap in the division and potentially crawl back to within one game of the leading Jaguars.
Instead, they gave arguably the worst team in the NFL their first win. It's hard to argue that a team has struggled more than the Tennessee Titans throughout the first five weeks of 2026. Tennessee is an organization that's more focused on the decision between Jeremiah Smith, Colin Simmons, and Drew Mestemaker than on any potential playoff push.
Now, with the Colts being in possession of only one more win than the Titans, it might be time to look to the draft to see what elite prospect can turn the franchise around. After all, the consolation for being one of the worst teams in the league is a high draft slot.
4 Indianapolis Colts who let the team down in Week 6
Unfortunately, that high draft pick will be going to the New York Jets as a result of the abhorrent Sauce Gardner trade. Thanks, Chris Ballard. Times are bleak in Indy. Here are four players who underperformed yet again.
No. 1: Daniel Jones
Yes, yet again, the man whom Chris Ballard paid $88 million will remain in the loser column. Even in their wins, he's simply too limited to be even a top-three player on the team. Who could have foreseen that the player with a 1-15 record in primetime wouldn't have the clutch gene?
It was another week, and another opportunity for a game-winning drive where Daniel Jones couldn't even get close to delivering. That's not to mention the poor play throughout the game that put them in the position of having to make a drive with the game on the line.
Daniel Jones threw two interceptions and had another would-be interception dropped with 10 and a half minutes to go in the fourth. He played sloppily, made poor decisions, and simply wasn't good enough. We could very easily look back this offseason and say this is the moment it was solidified once and for all that Indy should move on from Jones.
No. 2: WR Josh Downs
With Alec Pierce on IR for the foreseeable future, the Colts' wide receiver room could be described as piecemeal at best. It seems like every week they're dependent on someone stepping up past their normal role. In weeks past, Josh Downs has filled that role admirably.
This week, however, that was starkly not the case. Downs was targeted eight times, and yet reeled in only four receptions. Twice he dropped throws that would have extended drives on third down. Once he tipped a ball thrown to him, and Amani Hooker reeled it in for a red zone interception.
Downs did have some good plays on the day, but on a consistent basis, he was hurting the team. On a day when quarterback Daniel Jones struggled heavily to throw the ball, one of his best receivers did anything but help him out.
No. 3: Literally anybody guarding Carnell Tate
The Titans, through the first five weeks of the season, were the NFL's worst scoring offense. There were talks of moving on from Cam Ward, talks of firing everybody involved with the offensive operation. The Titans spent the number four overall pick on WR Carnell Tate to help out their struggling young QB, and he lived up to the billing against the Colts.
Star CB Sauce Gardner left the contest with a significant amount of game left with an injury, but even when he was on the field, Tate was making plays. Anytime the Titans offense got in trouble, there was Carnell Tate with an acrobatic catch to extend drives.
He finished the day with 70 yards and a touchdown, and should have had 30 more yards late in the fourth when he drew a pass interference call on the Colts' defense on a crucial third down.
Even when Tate wasn't catching the ball directly, he was hurting the Colts' defense. Carnell Tate is a great young receiver, but in the grand scheme of the entire National Football League, there are many better players. If the defense can't handle Tate on an offense with little other receiving threat to cover and a struggling young QB, that does not bode well for Indy's secondary going forward.
No. 4: The entire special teams unit
Every single unit of the Indianapolis Colts team did not play up to snuff against Tennessee. Still, for all of the offensive and defensive woes, this could very well still have been a victory for Indy had their special teams unit not made multiple catastrophic errors.
The two biggest of those errors were a huge kick return allowed to Chimere Dike that placed the Titans in the red zone and, obviously, the blocked punt returned for a touchdown. Those two errors directly resulted in 10 of the Titans' 26 points.
Even with all of Indy's gaffes throughout the game, they still could have won if the special teams were simply average. It was entirely abysmal.
That being said, the Colts' drives in the second half went exactly in this sequence: fumble, interception, blocked punt returned for a touchdown, turnover on downs, turnover on downs. This was a complete organizational failure on all fronts, and this is the type of humiliating loss that should result in major changes for Indy. They need to be better.
Add us as a preferred source on Google