You could see the potential of how good the Colts new defense can be despite losing to the Chiefs in Week 12
The Colts didn’t get the win but their defense did a lot of things they should be proud of going forward.
The Indianapolis Colts made a bold move by trading two first-round picks and Adonai Mitchell for Sauce Gardner. Many pointed to his lack of ball skills, leading to interceptions, as a reason the Colts overpaid. The Colts had plans beyond interceptions, though.
The trade for Gardner involved not only how the team viewed the CB but also how it viewed its secondary as a whole. It believes adding Gardner to the nucleus would give them one of the best pass defenses in the NFL. There’s still plenty to work on, but we saw flashes of what the team envisions going forward in Week 12 vs. the Kansas City Chiefs despite the loss.
The future looks bright for the Colts’ defense after seeing one game of the secondary fully healthy
For most of the game in Week 12, the Colts led the Chiefs. Their defense held Kansas City to checkdowns through three and a half quarters, mostly. Their new and improved secondary gave the defensive line enough time to get to Mamomes, recording four sacks on the day. And this was just the first time Gardner and Charvarius Ward played together.
The ending stats don’t tell the whole story, but people checking the box score will think Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense got the better of the Colts in this one. Those watching saw how much Mahomes struggled for three quarters before the Colts’ offense just completely folded.
The Colts were held to a season low 255 yards with only 181 yards passing and 74 rushing. It wasn’t an awful outing from start to finish, but boy, did the group fall on their faces down the stretch.
The last four offensive drives were three-and-outs, and the offense only scored six points in the second half. This defense played more than well enough to win, but was exhausted down the stretch after the Colts lost the time of possession battle, 42:35 to 25:28.
I, for one, leave this game optimistic about the defense, especially once DeForest Buckner returns from the IR. The biggest concern I have with this defense is the poor showing against the run without Buckner.
Indianapolis Colts News
Colts offense starts out strong but Daniel Jones and the passing game went cold down the stretch and it cost them a win
Colts passing game handed this game to the Chiefs in the fourth quarter and overtime.
