INDIANAPOLIS – Here’s our latest ‘hits and misses’ piece on 1075TheFan.com highlighting the good and bad from the previous game.
It wasn’t all completely ugly as the Colts saw a first half lead evaporate in losing 24-10 to the Ravens on Sunday afternoon.
What was the good and bad from the Colts (5-3) losing their third game, all to AFC teams, this season?
Hits
-Michael Pittman and DeMichael Harris No. 11 and No. 12 were really the lone offensive bright spots on Sunday. Let’s start with the more heralded rookie wideout, Michael Pittman. In his second game back from injury, Pittman had 4 catches for a career-high 56 yards. We saw Pittman make some nice grabs over the middle and he provided the offense with yards after the catch on a third-down screen conversion. The Colts really hope this is the step of a consistent, and productive, second half of the season from Pittman. Harris, on the other hand, is a much different body type that Pittman, but Frank Reich has found a useful niche role for the undrafted free agent. Harris had 6 touches for 55 yards (2 carries for 28 yards, 4 catches for 27 yards) against the Ravens. This offense needs speed right now. And Harris brings that. He should be on the active roster for good, IMO.
-Run Defense: Facing the most unique rushing challenge in the NFL, the Colts won that matchup. Baltimore finished Sunday with 38 carries for 110 yards (2.9 YPC), with the Colts recording 9 tackles for loss. Led by Grover Stewart in the middle, the Colts stuffed the Ravens dynamic and diverse rushing attack from the onset. Yes, Baltimore’s TD drive that pushed the lead to two scores early in the 4th quarter was heavy run, but that’s nitpicking a bit. The Colts would have easily signed up for allowing 2.9 YPC at the start of the day.
-Darius Leonard: As the defense played more and more on Sunday, you could see some gassed looks on players. Darius Leonard was one of them, but that shouldn’t undersell the day he had. Leonard finished with 13 solo tackles, which are the most in an NFL game this season. In fact, Leonard is the NFL’s only player with 13-plus solo tackle games since 2018 (he had 15 against Washington in Week Two of the 2018 season). Leonard was a major reason why the Colts allowed just 55 total yards in Sunday’s first half (the fewest for the franchise since 2014).
Misses
-Philip Rivers: Sunday was easily the worst we’ve seen Philip Rivers at home as a Colt. He finished the game 25-of-43 for 227 yards, with a poor interception. The Colts were just 2-of-12 on third down. Rivers missed on a couple of chunk throws, and the Ravens thrived with more Cover 2 looks to limit the Colts vertical passing game. Despite not being sacked, and being hit just twice, Rivers and the passing offense had their least efficient outing of the season.
-Jonathan Taylor: Just a hypothetical for a second, if Jonathan Taylor holds onto the ball on that late first-quarter drive, his opening period stat line would read: 5 carries, 26 yards, 1 touchdown. But that fumble by Taylor completely changed the game and his role the rest of the way. Taylor had 1 carry the remainder of the game, and that came with 6 minutes to go in the 4th quarter as Jordan Wilkins was being looked at on the sideline by the athletic training staff. This is now two straight weeks that Taylor has pretty much been benched.
-2nd Half Defense: Most will say this is nitpicking, but we have to critically evaluate things every week, especially against improved competition. The Colts defense was so darn good in the first half, but things were nowhere close to that in the second half. Baltimore started the half with 3 consecutive drives, all covering at least 50 yards and recording at least 4 first downs. It was Lamar Jackson going 10-of-10 in the second half, with the Colts making a recent 50 percent passer look like Week 1 Gardner Minshew. Again, the defense was not the reason the Colts lost on Sunday, but that unit did have some second-half miscues that should be pointed out.
