Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans Postgame

Passing:

Matt Ryan: 33/44, 243 YDS, 1 TD, 2 INT

Ryan Tannehill: 13/20, 132 YDS

Rushing:

Jonathan Taylor: 10 ATT, 58 YDS

Derrick Henry: 30 ATT, 128 YDS

Receiving:

Parris Campbell: 10 REC, 70 YDS, 1 TD

Austin Hooper: 3 REC, 56 YDS

Woof. That sucked, that was ugly and very sad. I’m sure a Titans fan is reading this right now and dancing on our graves at this very moment, the morning after a big division win always feels awesome. This offensive line is so bad but Matt Ryan looks old and dumb. His second interception was so stupid, any veteran knows to not get that ball out and just take the sack at that point. It’s absolutely no surprise that the only game the Colts scored over 30 points was when the line actually protected him. The offensive line is the highest paid offensive line in the league, how in gods name are they this bad, Ryan was hit 10 times on Sunday and he may be hurt, good, keep him safe from any other major injury, at this point he should retire because of how hard he is getting hit. It’s getting frustrating and disgusting how bad they are and every lineman should be ashamed at their level of play right now, heading into the season, they were being considered as the best line in the league and they have failed their quarterback, their fan base, their team and the front office and they may be the reason Ballard and Reich will lose their jobs. Where is JT? I understand if he is on a pitch count but the Colts are near the bottom of the league in their run play percentage, they immediately give up on the run, Taylor averaged 5.8 yards per rush and he didn’t have a broken off run where he went for 20, 30 or 40 yards, he was truly rushing for 5-10 yards on around half of his rushes and they just kept throwing it, it’s despicable. Why does Frank still have a job at this point? He has been swept by the Titans in 2 straight seasons, he sucks in the division post Andrew Luck. Any person who says Gus Bradley needs to be fired and the defense is an issue is a colossal moron and you should be barred from watching the Colts. They held the Titans to 12 points on 4 field goals, literally the epitome of a bend but don’t break defense, lets not forget the Titans are the best Red Zone offense in the NFL, the defense has done their job every week except last week, some will say “oh what about the Jags game in Jacksonville, they gave up 24 points”, yeah Matt Ryan threw 3 interceptions and the Colts got shutout, most games with that stat line end in 30+ to 0 but they held them to under 25 points. Let’s not forget how AWFUL these refs were, they are 100% homers for this game, how awful can they be, first Nyheim Hines gets yanked in the backfield in Tennessee territory, if the flag is thrown it would have been 1st and 10 from the Titans 11 but no, it’s 2nd and 12 from the Titans 28 and Ryan throws the pic-6 because Parris Campbell ran a wrong route. The next Titans offensive possession Bobby Okereke gets called on Derrick Henry for a face mask that was actually Okereke grabbing Henry’s jersey from the arm hole on 2nd and 6 from the Indy 30, if that doesn’t get called it’s 3rd and 2 from the 28. That makes the next play matter much more and maybe you see a pass from the Titans that can get picked off. Ok, let’s talk how the Colts failed.

Offensive Keys to the Game:

1. Create Holes for JT: I mean, you didn’t even try to run with JT, he has 5.8 YPA but only 10 attempts, so yes you technically did but this was a failure, complete and utter failure.
2. Take Deep Shots: Matt Ryan attempted and completed 1 pass over 20 yards, who’s to blame here? Is it Ryan for being afraid to throw the ball deep, is it Frank Reich for not calling a deep ball play for Ryan or is it the offensive line for not giving the wide receivers or Ryan time for the play to actually develop? I don’t know and I don’t really care, the Titans had no interest in even defending deep and why should they? There is no threat, every pass is a check down to the running back or a wide receiver, ever think of throwing it to a tight end?
3. Get Hot Early: It felt good to start, the Titans got a holding penalty on the opening kick, we then forced a punt, then it was 3rd and 3 and the offense made things look easy, then they punted, it’s been 8 straight games without a first drive touchdown, sad! The Colts scored their first points 4:12 into the 3rd quarter while down 10-0 (touchdown thanks to Matt Ryan). So no, you didn’t get hot early.

Defensive Keys to the Game

1. Stop Henry: In the first half it felt like if the Colts battened down the hatches they could hold him down, he had 50+ yards in the first half but the Titans did almost nothing in the first half, scoring 3 offensive points, but the colts defense fell as the game went on, they could not stop Henry when the offense needed a stand, but with the defense allowing 12 points, how can you blame them? They were emotionally gassed, the offense did nothing points wise (they finished with more yards than the Titans)
2. Punish The Drops: Austin Hooper made a fantastic catch that ended the game, all because the defensive backs didn’t go after the ball, they gave up on the play once they touched Hooper. Tannehill’s receivers didn’t have a single drop, then again, throwing it 20 times doesn’t give much opportunity to drop the ball
3. Win the Turnover Battle: Another game another failure to win the turnover battle, the offense turned it over 3 times but the defense doesn’t force turnovers, remember when they would just punch out balls and truly make a play to get turnovers, not just wait for the other team to make a mistake? The defense just seems to sit back and hope a pass gets batted or a ball is dropped on a handoff, they have to jump more on opportunities to actually grab the ball, there is no life in this team, no fight and no culture.

I just heard that Matt Ryan is hurt and Sam Ehlinger is now the starter, good lord here we go, this season will either be extremely fun and the Colts will go on a run or they will collapse and it will suck to write about this team, go Colts, onto the Commanders.