Shane Steichen, Gardner Minshew Reveal Why Colts Imploded vs. Falcons
Sunday afternoon presented a prime opportunity for the Indianapolis Colts to take control of the wild card race in the AFC.
Instead, the Colts turned in one of their worst performances of the season, a deflating 29-10 defeat to the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Indy had major issues on both sides of the ball, as the team failed to execute in all phases. For a team with playoff aspirations right in front of them, the loss should serve as a gut check.
“We have to look at ourselves hard in the mirror after a loss like that, starting with myself, to get those things corrected," head coach Shane Steichen said after the loss. "You have a big win the week prior, and then you go do what we did today. We can’t have it. We have two guaranteed left to us, and we have to get it cleaned up in a hurry."
After a big win against the Pittsburgh Steelers a week ago, the Colts looked like a team simply going through the motions against the Falcons. Starting with the offense, the Colts were dominated up front as the offensive line could not get any push in the run game nor protect in the passing game. Indy only managed to rush for 92 yards on 25 carries (3.7 ypc) and allowed six sacks on the day.
The pressure was put on Gardner Minshew to carry the load. But without solid protection, a running game, and missing his WR1 in Michael Pittman Jr., it was too much for the backup quarterback to overcome. Minshew finished 20-of-37 (54%) for 201 yards and an interception.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew (10) passing under pressure from Atlanta Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss (55) during the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
"You got to take what you can from this and learn from it," Minshew elaborated. "There’s a lot of good learning out there. You know, it is a game, I don’t know if we approached it with the right urgency. You know, I think we got to look at ourselves, tighten up, and figure out what we are going to do with this opportunity we got in front of us."
The defensive side of the ball for the Colts was just as bad. Indy gave up 406 yards of total offense to a Falcons unit led by Taylor Heinicke, who was 0-2 as the starter in Atlanta before Sunday's contest. Bijan Robinson had 122 of those 406 yards, proving too difficult for the Colts to handle on numerous occasions.
Missed tackles plagued the Colts' defense as Robinson and others shook off Colts defenders on what seemed like every possession. Lapses in coverage did not do the Colts any favors, either, as the Falcons capitalized on their mistakes. Gus Bradley had no answers for his unit.
"We didn’t come out with the juice," DeForest Buckner remarked. "We got out there and got our butts whooped. Shoutout to the Falcons. They had a great game plan and they played hard today and came out with the win. For us, we’ve got to get better. It’s the little details. For instance, missed tackles. We had too many missed on defense. I feel like there were times where we could have got them down and we would have been in a good spot defensively, but we’ve just got to learn from our mistakes.”
Poor execution was the name of the game for the Colts in one of their most important outings of the season. From the comments of the leaders in the Colts locker room after the game, one can infer that this young team may have taken the Falcons lightly throughout the week. What they got in return was a punch in the mouth and the lessen that any team can win on any given Sunday in the NFL.
“I think you started looking at opportunities like this, and you start counting wins, and you start doing schedule math, and you look around," Minshew explained. "It’s like, ‘Well, they lost to Carolina, and we beat the Steelers.’ Well, you know what, you got to go and earn it right now. Take this event, take this lightly, you might not end up with another.
"Everybody thinks that you got all this time, you’re going to have all these chances to make playoff runs, and it doesn’t work like that. We have to take advantage of them when we got them, and I’m excited to how we respond and bring it next week.”
Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (7) carries the ball against Indianapolis Colts safety Nick Cross (20) during the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
© John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
“I feel like Gardner said it perfectly, ‘Don’t take it for granted.’" Zaire Franklin repeated. "Being in a situation in December where you can fight for a playoff spot and play meaningful football, don’t take it for granted. Don’t feel like you beat a team on paper just because you all are supposed to be better than them. It’s hard to win in this league, and unfortunately, today was the lesser. We’ve still got two games left, and we’re back to work on Wednesday to get another win on Sunday.”
Ultimately, the Colts did not lose much ground in the AFC playoff race. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans lost on Sunday, meaning there is still a three-way tie atop the AFC South. The Colts hold the seventh seed in the conference after Sunday's slate as well.
But if the Colts continue to take their opponents lightly, they will not be in playoff position for much longer. The type of performance against the Falcons cannot happen again for this team to make the postseason. Despite the embarrassment on the field, Steichen believes his team will bounce back.
“I feel really confident about the guys playing at home," Steichen admitted. "We have a big one next week against the Raiders that we have to get ready for and get things corrected from this game, then we have to move on. We have two big ones coming up.”
The margin for error is now zero for the Colts the rest of the way. Play like they did against the Steelers, and Indy will see a playoff berth. Play like they did against the Falcons, and their season will be over in two short weeks.
Time to find out what this team is truly made of.
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