The Indianapolis Colts dropped their Week 12 matchup with the Lions. Not surprisingly, self-inflicted errors coupled with facing a really good team is not a recipe for success.
Beating Detroit is already a difficult enough task, but the Colts made things much harder on themselves, often not able to get out of their own way.
Now at 5-7, the Colts’ are barely hanging on to their playoff hopes, but before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look back at the Colts’ performance on Sunday with the good, the bad, and the ugly of it all.
The Good
Anthony Richardson: The stat line won’t show it, but it was another very encouraging performance from Richardson. He was throwing on time, in rhythm, and displayed good command of the offense. Those elements resulted in more accurate throws on the short to intermediate routes, with Richardson mixing in some downfield attempts. Overall, his decision-making was sound as well, but there wasn’t a lot of help around him between some drops, the offensive line play, and penalties.
Michael Pittman: This was the best that Pittman has looked in a number of weeks. He caught 6-of-7 targets for 96 yards, with four of those six receptions going for first downs.
Laiatu Latu: With each passing week, Latu seems to be getting more comfortable and making a bigger impact. Against the Lions, where pressuring Jared Goff is no easy task, Latu tallied five pressures, the most on the team and fourth-most among defensive ends in Week 11, and a sack.
The Bad
The red zone differential: At halftime, the Colts trailed 14-6. The difference was that they settled for two field goals in the red zone and Lions scored two touchdowns. Making matters more difficult was that a penalty on the first red zone drive and a dropped touchdown by Drew Ogletree stalled out their two red area possessions. Detroit, meanwhile, was 3-for-4 in the red zone.
Third down differential: Another game-defining aspect of this game was that the Colts were 3-for-12 on third downs and the Lions were 9-for-15. The difference can be attributed to each team’s success in the run game. For Jonathan Taylor, it was tough sledding, creating long down-and-distance situations. For the Detroit, their run game kept them ahead of the sticks and in manageable down and distances. The third down discrepancy resulted in the Lions controlling the clock, holding the ball for 14 more minutes than the Colts.
Colts offensive line play: There were penalties, Taylor averaged just 3.2 yards per rush, and Richardson was pressured on 44 percent of his dropbacks–the fifth-highest rate in Week 12. Success for the offense starts in the trenches, but the Colts’ offensive line play continues to trend in the wrong direction.
The Ugly
Penalties: Way, way too many penalties. The Colts were flagged 10 times for 75 yards on Sunday. These penalties obviously put the offense in disadvantageous situations, specifically long down-and-distances that they are then forced to overcome, but a number of these flags also wiped up some big plays as well. Plays of 21 yards, 19 yards, 7 yards, and 30 yards were erased, as was a fourth-down conversion. Against the Lions, a clean game is a must, but the Colts did the opposite.
