The Indianapolis Colts fell to 0-2 on the season after dropping a heartbreaker in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Despite the loss, and despite the sky feeling like it’s falling with the Alec Pierce injury from Sunday night, the Colts put up a legitimate fight against one of the best teams in the AFC. There was plenty of good and plenty of bad from this Week 2 overtime loss, so let’s get into the winners and losers.

Winners

Jonathan Taylor

Through the first two weeks of the season, you could make the case that Jonathan Taylor is the best running back in the NFL. He looks as fast as ever, hitting holes with great vision, pace, and timing. When Taylor has the ball in his hands, he can score from anywhere on the football field. What he has done against two defenses in the Baltimore Ravens and the Chiefs, both of which have great defensive minds running them, is impressive.

Quenton Nelson

A lot of the lanes Taylor found were a direct result of Nelson’s dominance. Almost every time Indianapolis ran to the left side off their guard, Nelson bulldozed Chiefs defensive linemen and got up to the second level. There is a reason this guy is a bona fide Hall of Famer and an All-Pro selection every year. He put it on full display against Kansas City.

Laquon Treadwell

At 31, Treadwell is an NFL journeyman who started the year on the practice squad. He has had one of the most up-and-down careers you will ever see. But he was the whole reason the Colts were even able to tie the game in the first place. That big-time play to stretch the field and get Indianapolis into field goal range after the Chiefs took the lead in overtime was extremely impressive.

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Losers

Keenan Allen

I don’t think this is hyperbolic. If you woke up in the morning and saw that Allen had been released by the Colts, would you be that surprised? He is now facing a three-game suspension for the OWI charge from when he first joined Indianapolis. On top of that, he had an awful night on the field. Drops, lackluster effort attacking the football, routes that weren’t clean. He didn’t look anything like the Keenan Allen of old. It leads you to wonder if Sunday night was his final night playing football. The Alec Pierce injury could throw a wrench in things because the Colts need warm bodies, but Allen did not have a pretty night.

Justin Walley

The defense as a whole struggled, and we will get to that, but it was clear the Chiefs were targeting Walley. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid hunted him all night. He struggled in man coverage and in coverage in general. It was not a pretty night.

Defense

Giving up 33 points tells part of the story, but the fundamentals broke down at all three levels. Kenneth Walker had another strong game on the ground. Travis Kelce looked like he turned back the clock, going for over 100 receiving yards and running up and down the seam. He looked faster than some of the Colts’ defenders. Between Walley’s struggles, some of the safety play from a young guy like AJ Haulcey, and everything in between, it was not a pretty game. In reality, I don’t even blame defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo because I don’t know how good that personnel is.

Shane Steichen

Steichen was going to be a winner for most of this game. I thought he called a strong game. His ability to score points against Steve Spagnuolo’s defense with the limitations he had on offense was noteworthy. His best receiver was Josh Downs, and that’s no shot at Downs, but he’s a slot wide receiver, a WR3 type. Steichen was still dialing up good plays, and the Colts nearly put up over 30 points themselves.

But to not go for it on fourth-and-8 and give the ball back to Patrick Mahomes? To essentially wave the white flag and hope that your defense, which hadn’t been able to stop a nosebleed all night, was going to suddenly stop one of the greatest football players to ever play while he’s at home? That was a massive mistake. I understand that he got the pre-snap look and took the penalty. He could have called a timeout. He could have gone for it and at least gone out on his sword. That call was not a good one, and it ended up costing the Colts the game, and you have to wonder if it costs him even more in the long run.