The Indianapolis Colts were exposed in their grim loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Many fans are focused on the fourth quarter (and overtime) collapse. That was certainly the issue in this game, but the bigger picture shows a far more serious concern.
Did the Colts collapse in the fourth quarter and overtime? Oh, absolutely, they did. The defense surrendered an astonishing 223 yards in the fourth and overtime. Before anyone goes off on how awful the defense was, remember that they forced Andy Reid's squad to settle for four field goals when touchdowns were what they needed.
Yes, the defense fella apart at the end. But the offense was even worse. After putting up 242 yards and 20 points against a tough KC defense, Shane Steichen's boys only managed 13 yards in the final 15 plus overtime. Okay, so they're technically Jim Bob Cooter's guys, but you get the picture. Offense and defense belong to Steichen. And that points to the real issue in Indy.
Shane Steichen and the Colts are awful against good teams
Maybe awful is too strong a term. Too strong for you, maybe, but not to me. The Colts have one solid win against a team with a winning record. That would be their 38-24 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
They're only 2-3 when facing teams with records above .500. Charvarius Ward knows. As he said after the game, "We gotta beat the best teams, and I feel like we're this close, but we're not there yet."
That other win came against the 9-2 Denver Broncos. That's a very good team, sure, but we all remember how lucky the Colts were to pull that off. Only a disastrous penalty for the Broncos converted a 60-yard missed field goal into the 50-yard game-winner.
So the Colts only have those two quality wins, versus the 9-2 Broncos and the 7-4 Chargers. Their three losses have come against the 9-2 Rams, the 6-5 Steelers, and now the 6-5 Chiefs. Their other six wins are against teams with an aggregate 15-53 record.
Even throwing out the terrible Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis has beaten a pair of 4-7 teams (Miami and Atlanta), along with 3-8 Arizona and 2-9 Las Vegas. That's actually pretty sad.
For those worried about the fourth quarter collapse, don't. In their two losses before the Chiefs' debacle, the Colts had 86 and 193 yards in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 and 13 points. On defense, they allowed 170 yards to the Rams, but just 14 to the Steelers.
Yeah, that Steelers game was weird. Pittsburgh only needed one yard at the start of the fourth to cap off a touchdown drive that started in the third quarter. Then their field goal came after a six-yard "drive" gifted by a Daniel Jones fumble. Versus the Rams, the Colts' offense had 86 yards and scored 10 points.
Overall, the Colts have averaged 90 yards and 7.7 points in the fourth and overtime, while allowing 105 yards and 7.4 points to their opponents. In their three losses, the averages are 97 yards and 7.7 points versus 136 and 12.7.
Those aren't great numbers in the losses, no. But I'll also point out that in several games with low offensive numbers in the fourth, the Colts were winning blowouts; see the Dolphins. Raiders, Chargers, and the second Titans games.
So the issue isn't that Steichen's squad fades in the fourth quarter. Absolutely, they did against the Chiefs; there's no disputing that. The real issue is that they're not nearly as good as their 8-3 record. Shane Steichen and his team face a fairly brutal schedule the rest of the way. It's time to see if this team is real.