CINCINNATI — Sunday was a day the Colts would like to forget. Nothing seemed to go right for Indianapolis during a 34-14 defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals as its four-game winning streak was snapped.
(NOTE: The video above is a LockedOn Colts Podcast on Michael Pittman Jr.'s performance throughout the season.)
There was a lot of buzz surrounding this game at Paycor Stadium for the Colts. Jonathan Taylor was out for a second consecutive game recovering from right thumb surgery. Defensive lineman Grover Stewart was back for the Colts, which provided a jolt to an already high-performing group. The battle was on for playoff relevance in the AFC. Cincinnati, of course, was without star quarterback Joe Burrow.
After a slow start for both teams, Cincy broke through courtesy of a Jake Browning to Chase Brown screen pass for a 53-yard touchdown to give them a 7-0 lead.
The Colts had a nice drive going toward the end of the first quarter. However, a false start penalty in the red zone stalled their drive. Matt Gay then proceeded to doink a 38-yard field goal off of the upright, and the Colts came away with zero points.
Self-inflicted wounds kept Bengals drives alive throughout this one. One instance then saw Joe Mixon punch it in to give Cincy a 14 -0 lead in the second quarter.
What sparked the Colts toward the end of the first half was a 17-play, 79-yard drive, which took nearly nine minutes off the clock. Gardner Minshew hit Mo Alie-Cox on a fourth down play for a two-yard touchdown, putting the Colts on the board. Gay's PAT was no good as Indianapolis trailed by just eight.
The bright spot of the day was a Ronnie Harrison Jr. pick-six toward the end of the half. A two-point conversion saw the Colts tie it up at 14 despite not playing well.
From there, it was all Cincinnati. Penalties, miscues, and an overall out-of-rhythm day doomed Indianapolis, which saw the Bengals pull away decidedly in the second half.
"We've been talking about playing complimentary football the last couple of weeks and trying to put out great effort today. And a lot of self-inflicted stuff happened out there today," a perplexed head coach Shane Steichen said after the game. "We have a drive going, and a penalty moves us back. We have another drive going, and another penalty moves us back. We have a holding call. A lot of that stuff — the punt, Ameer (CB Ameer Speed) runs into (WR Isaiah McKenzie). In that situation, I was thinking, ‘Jeez Louise.’ It was a wild game. A lot of self-inflicted stuff that we have to get cleaned up going forward."
"It was just one of those days. It was not our day. And I have full confidence in that group that's in that locker room that we'll get it cleaned up going forward," Steichen continued.
"Today wasn’t what we're about and what we want to be about. A lot of self-inflicted wounds. We have to figure it out. We have to learn from this and grow," quarterback Gardner Minshew said. "I think we should still have a lot of confidence in the body of work we put on tape this year and the work we've done together, so I think we're going to come together, get better and be ready to go next Saturday.”
The Colts struggled to get the run game going throughout the day. Zack Moss carried the ball 13 times for just 28 yards. Indianapolis had 46 total rushing yards in this game.
Minshew threw the ball 39 times, completing 26 passes, and tallying 240 yards to go along with one touchdown and one interception—his eighth interception of the season.
Michael Pittman Jr. paced the wide receiving corps with eight catches for 95 yards.
The defensive line, even with the return of Stewart, struggled mightily to get pressure on Bengals quarterback Jake Browning, tallying zero sacks on Sunday. Browning threw for 275 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Colts committed nine penalties for 66 yards to go along with two turnovers on the day. With the loss, Indy drops to 7-6 on the season, with four games remaining. For now, the Colts still maintain the seventh and final playoff spot in the AFC.
“At this point, we’re all in shape, we all know we’re capable, we all make plays, but it’s just the mental endurance throughout the week to stay locked in, stay focused on the task, and Sundays or Saturdays, the team that makes the least amount of mistakes, the team that executes better is typically going to win the game," Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin said. "You go on that four-game winning streak, and you’re just executing and outlasting our opponents, and we’ve got to get back to that, keep trusting ourselves and our coaches, and play better.”
The Colts' next game is Saturday, Dec. 16 at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That game will be at 4:30 p.m. and air on NFL Network.