The Indianapolis Colts (7-5) were able to pull off a 31-28 comeback win over the Tennessee Titans (4-8) on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
Extending their win streak to four games for the first time since 2018, this win also marked the first time the Colts swept the season series against the Titans since 2018, as well as collecting their first road win against Tennessee since then.
In what was a sloppy game all around, the Colts struggled mightily on offense. It was another shaky game from quarterback Gardner Minshew, who completed 26-of-42 passes for 312 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 100.5 passer rating.
Those are pretty solid numbers on paper, but anyone watching the game understands Minshew was inconsistent throughout the entire game.
Still, the Colts were about to battle their way to a tough overtime win on the road against an opponent they have struggled against recently on the road.
Here’s our instant analysis from the Week 13 win:
What went right
- WR Michael Pittman Jr. posted an 11-105-1 line on a team-high 16 targets. He has at least eight receptions in five consecutive games and has done so in nine games overall this season.
- WR Alec Pierce finally had a breakout performance, posting a 3-100-1 line. It’s the first time in his career he’s reached 100 yards in a game.
- TE Kylen Granson posted a single-game career-high 72 yards.
- The Colts’ special teams were on fire. They blocked two punts and returned one for a touchdown. Meanwhile, Matt Gay converted all four of his field-goal attempts and his lone extra-point attempt.
- The pass rush collected 6.0 sacks and nine quarterback hits.
- Both Samson Ebukam and Kwity Paye registered 2.0 sacks each while Jacob Martin recorded 1.0 sack, and DeForest Buckner and Eric Johnson were credited with splitting a sack.
- LB E.J. Speed led the team with 3.0 tackles for loss.
- Defensively, the Colts were strong on third down, allowing a conversion on 6-of-17 attempts (35%).
- The defense held the Titans offense to 4.7 yards per play.
What went wrong
- The Colts had no answer for Derrick Henry and Tyjae Spears. Henry posted 21 carries for 102 rushing yards and two touchdowns before leaving with a concussion. Spears took over taking 16 carries for 75 rushing yards while adding four receptions for 13 yards.
- The Colts were brutal in money situations. They converted 3-of-14 (21%) on third downs and just 1-of-5 (20%) in the red zone. They were 0-of-4 in the red zone during regulation.
- The defense struggled to contain the Titans offense on play-action passes.
- The Titans offense converted 2-of-3 (67%) trips into the red zone.
The Bottom Line
The Colts did not necessarily look like a playoff-bound team on Sunday. The Titans clearly were the inferior opponent, and the Colts did just about all they could to throw the game away. However, they still prevailed, and that’s something we have to keep in mind. They’ve been thriving on the road and in one-score games this season. The fight they have shown all season is indicative of the culture they’ve built under new head coach Shane Steichen. There are a lot of things the Colts have to clean up, but they continue to control their own destiny with five games remaining in the playoff push.
