Cheers & Jeers: Colts-Browns
The Cleveland Browns extended their win streak to four and ended the Indianapolis Colts’ stretch of three consecutive wins in Sunday’s 32-23 Browns home win at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The Colts (3-2) couldn’t get stops early and trailed by 10 at halftime, then couldn’t rally against the Browns (4-1), who benefited from a pick-six and safety for nine points on defense.
Suffice to say the jeers were louder than the cheers in Week 5 for the Colts.
Cheers
— Rookie returner Isaiah Rodgers provided the Colts’ best play with a 101-yard touchdown kickoff return in the third quarter. It was the Colts’ first TD kickoff return since Jordan Todman at Green Bay on Nov. 6, 2016.
— Rodgers is just the sixth Colts rookie in franchise history to have a TD kickoff return, and first since Dominic Rhodes in 2001. Rodgers’ 212 kickoff return yards are the third-most by a player in a game in team history.
— Six days removed from surgery on his broken left thumb, second-year linebacker Bobby Okereke led the Colts with 10 total tackles and had his first NFL interception despite playing the game with his hand thickly wrapped. Eight of his tackles were solos.
— Defensive end Justin Houston hit Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield to impact the pass that Okereke intercepted.
— The Colts limited the Browns to a field goal on the opening possession, which extended an NFL-best streak of the Colts not allowing an opening-drive touchdown to 17 consecutive games.
— Linebacker Anthony Walker also had an interception. The Colts have nine interceptions, which leads the NFL.
— Rookie running back Jonathan Taylor rushed for 57 yards on 12 carries with one touchdown. He leads the Colts with three TDs.
— Taylor’s 4-yard TD rush in the first quarter marked the fourth time in five games the Colts have scored a touchdown on their opening possession.
— Rookie kicker Rodrigo Blankenship made three field goals and two extra points. His 56 points lead the NFL. “Hot Rod” has hit 15-of-17 field goals and all 11 extra points. His 56 points ties for the most ever by a Colts kicker in the first five weeks of a season and is the second-most ever for an NFL rookie in the first five games.
Rookie kicker Rodrigo Blankenship leads the NFL in scoring.
Jenna Watson/USA TODAY Sports
— Defensive Al-Quadin Muhammad had his first sack of the season and forced a fumble.
— The Colts defense allowed just two pass completions for 19 yards in the second half.
— Second-year cornerback Rock Ya-Sin was second in Colts tackles with eight.
— Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton had a team-high six receptions for 69 yards. On his first reception, he tied Marshall Faulk (77) for the sixth-longest streak of consecutive games with a reception in franchise history.
— Wide receiver Marcus Johnson, promoted from the practice squad the day before the game, had three receptions for 53 yards. His 36-yard catch in the first quarter marked the second consecutive game he’s had a reception of 25 or more yards.
— Punter Rigoberto Sanchez had one punt for 54 yards with one downed inside the 20-yard line. The punt inside the 20 enabled Sanchez to pass Chris Gardocki (80) for the fourth-most punts inside the 20 in franchise history.
— Linebacker Jordan Glasgow had two special-teams tackles.
— Quarterback Philip Rivers made his 229th consecutive start, which ties Bruce Matthews for the second-longest streak of consecutive regular-season games started since 1970.
— On his fourth pass completion, Rivers reached 5,000 career completions. He’s just the fifth player in NFL history to reach that plateau, joining Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning.
The Colts walk off the field after Sunday's loss at Cleveland.
Jenna Watson/USA TODAY Sports
Jeers
— Rivers threw an incredibly bad pick-six in the third quarter to give the Browns a 27-10 lead. Hilton wasn’t open on the sideline, and the pass went straight to safety Ronnie Harrison, who returned the gift 47 yards for the score.
— Rivers, who was intercepted a second time, has five interceptions and just four TD passes in five games.
— Punt returner Nyheim Hines inexplicably signaled for a fair catch at the Colts’ 4-yard line. The Browns took advantage of the field position as pass-rusher Myles Garrett forced Rivers to throw incomplete from the end zone, the quarterback was flagged for intentional grounding, which resulted in a safety to make it 29-20 early in the fourth quarter.
— The Colts’ No. 1-ranked defense allowed the Browns to score on each of their four first-half possessions for 20 points.
— Worse yet, the Browns chewed up 19 minutes, 47 seconds in those four scoring drives, which totaled 45 plays in moving 69, 81, 75, and 64 yards. As a result, the Colts offense had just three first-half possessions. The Browns dominated time of possession, 34:45-25:15.
— Garrett had a solid day, mostly lining up against backup offensive tackle Le’Raven Clark, with four tackles, one sack, and four quarterback hits including the pressure that led to the safety. Garrett has six sacks this season. Clark was starting for the injured Anthony Castonzo.
— Colts cornerback Xavier Rhodes dropped an interception of a Mayfield pass that sailed over the target and hit the defender in the hands in the second quarter. The Browns capitalized with a field goal for a 20-10 lead.
— Tight end Mo Alie-Cox, the Colts leader in receiving yards, was targeted only once, and it was a pass he had no chance on with two Browns defenders in front, and resulted in Rivers’ second interception.
— Neither Cox nor Pro Bowl tight end Jack Doyle caught a single pass.
— The Colts had only one sack and three quarterback hits. It’s the second consecutive game in which the Colts have had only one sack.
— Houston’s streak of six consecutive games with at least a half sack ended.
— Colts head coach Frank Reich used both his challenges in the first half, and was unsuccessful on both, which cost two timeouts and meant the Colts didn’t have any challenges remaining with 8 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
— When the Colts needed a stop late, they were unable to get it as the Browns drove to a clinching field goal in the final minutes.
— Browns running back Kareem Hunt caught a 2-yard TD pass after Mayfield was allowed to scramble out of the pocket. The Colts had to be keying on Hunt, considering he now leads the Browns with six TDs, three rushing and three receiving, but it didn’t matter.
— Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who has been the subject of scrutiny for underachieving in Cleveland, had four receptions for a game-high 88 yards.
— The Colts rushed for just 68 yards on 18 carries, 3.8 yards per carry. While the average per carry was decent, the fact that the Colts were unable to sustain more of a rushing attack has been a continuing question. The team was seventh in rushing offense last season, but dropped to 17th after this game with two more teams likely surpassing the Colts on Monday night.
— The Colts offense ranks 23rd in total yards, 22nd in yards per play, 31st in rushing yards per carry, 27th in third-down efficiency, and 29th in the red zone.
— The Colts have scored just eight touchdowns in five games.
(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)
