The Indianapolis Colts defense held on as long as they could against the Denver Broncos, but ultimately, the performance on the offensive side of the ball and a special team’s miscue became too much to overcome.
In what was essentially a must-win game for the Colts, the defense put together one of its best performances of the season.
This was a Denver offense that averaged over 29 points per game in their last three contests. However, the Colts would hold Bo Nix to just 130 passing yards on 33 attempts, along with the Broncos rushing for 72 total yards.
In total, that’s an average of 3.2 yards per play for the Broncos offense. And for some context around that figure, Chicago currently ranks last in the NFL this season in that category, averaging 4.5 yards per play.
In addition to limiting the Broncos’ production, the Colts’ defense also forced three takeaways in this game as well.
The catalyst behind this performance from the Colts was their run defense. Nix wasn’t pressured all that often, according to PFF’s metrics, but limiting the run game put Denver behind the sticks and in predictable passing situations, giving the Colts the upper hand in those scenarios.
The final box score will show Denver putting up 31 points, but one of those touchdowns came after a punt return that set up the Broncos’ offense at the Indianapolis 15 yard line and the other was a pick-six by the Denver defense.
Through three quarters, the Colts had allowed only 10 points and the defense was in control for much of the game. However, having to overcome a collapse by the Indianapolis offense in that second half, which by EPA was one of the worst halves of football in recent memory, was a nearly impossible task.
