What is the story about?
The Indianapolis Colts lost to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, 23-27, which wasn’t unexpected by any means given that the season has quickly snowballed into another lost year—with a fire sale now fully underway.
To their credit, the reeling Colts, who have now lost 5 straight games and 14 of their last 16 games dating back to last season’s brutal final stretch, showed more fight than in last weekend’s blowout ‘laugher’ loss in Jacksonville.
Let’s get to the positives, the negatives, and maybe even a little
in between:
Horsepower
- Young Defensive Line: Despite veteran DeForest Buckner having departed back to the Bay, it was impressive to watch some of the ‘young pup’ Colts defensive linemen battle out there, including defensive tackle Ade Adebawore (5 QB pressures), rookie Caden Curry (a sack and a fumble recovery), Laiatu Latu (a sack), and yes, even 2nd-year pro Jaylahn Tuimoloau (a sack), who’s begun to finally round into form, with longtime nose tackle Grover Stewart remaining the ‘veteran voice.’
- RB Seth McGowan: In the midst of Jonathan Taylor trade rumors, McGowan has seen an increased workload as of late and taken advantage, averaging 7.5 yards per carry on 6 carries in this one, includinga short 2-yard touchdown run near midway through the first quarter. I still think I’d ideally like McGowan more as a change-of-pace or the 2nd head of a two headed running back attack, than a featured every down rusher, but the rookie 7th round pick has been a pleasant find for Indianapolis so far this season and could be poised for a bigger role if Taylor is indeed moved before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
- WR Ashton Dulin: The 29-year-old continues to be one of the longer tenured ‘fan favorites’ still remaining on the Colts roster, as he’s gone from undrafted free agent to core special teamer to even starting wideout at times. Dulin showcased his elite speed in this one, turning a short Colts quarterback Daniel Jones wide receiver screen pass into a 55-yard touchdown catch-and-run down the sideline.
- Rookie Defenders: Safety Hunter Wohler, who missed all of his debut season with a season-ending Lisfranc injury, had a team-high 16 tackles (6 solo) filling in for injured starting rookie safety AJ Haulcy and was a force in run defense. Meanwhile, the pair of Colts rookie linebackers were also active, as CJ Allen had 10 tackles (4 solo) and Bryce Boettcher added 12 tackles (4 solo) respectively. That’ll certainly play.
- Spencer Shrader: Having his worst game of the season 2 weeks ago in Minnesota, Shrader looked more like himself, converting all 3 of his field goal attempts of 47-yards, 59-yards, and 50-yards. Perhaps most telling, the Cowboys coaching staff changed their minds on accepting a penalty, which the officiating crew said was legal(?), when they saw Shrader trotting on the field for a potential 61-yard field goal attempt.
Horseplay
- QB Daniel Jones: At one point, the Colts had just 8 total passing yards midway through the 2nd quarter. Look, some of the wideouts playing meaningful snaps are preseason guys, and the offensive line hasn’t been great, especially in light of trading All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson. However, it’s hard to win when your starting quarterback is dinking and dunking or checking down and rarely challenges the opposing defense downfield. At a certain point, you have to trust your receivers to win their one-on-one matchups downfield. This wasn’t a great Dallas defense coming in either, surrendering the 27th most points (26.6 avg. ppg). Jones’ game-sealing interception facing pass pressure off his back foot was about as predictable as it gets.
- RB: Jonathan Taylor: The main topic of ongoing national Colts trade rumors hasn’t looked like himself the past two weeks, perhaps making ‘business decisions’ or maybe because with limited carries in back-to-back games, he’s had trouble getting into the flow of the game. I’ve always thought Taylor is someone who gets better during the course of a game with the more carries he gets, sort of like a heavyweight fighter wearing the opponent down round-after-round, before eventually breaking a big ‘TKO’ run late. I’m not going to make excuses for him, because his fumble early in the 4th quarter with the Colts threatening to score a touchdown in the red zone simply can’t happen—and he has to keep his pad level down for that matter. That being said, if Taylor stays past the deadline, I think he’ll look more like his old self. I wouldn’t expect him to get 30 carries in a game anymore this season, but closer to the 20 carry mark we’ve seen.
- WR Josh Downs: Normally “Mr. Reliable” as a 3rd down slot target, Downs has been “Mr. Drops” over the past two weeks since reportedly requesting a trade from the Colts. He had a 3rd and 8 drop early in the 2nd quarter, and then followed suit again with 1:45 left in the 4th quarter. If Downs wants to depart, fine, but he hasn’t backed up his surprising request with his play on the field, when such trade requests are typically reserved for more proven players with a longstanding history of production. The Colts are holding out hope for a 3rd round pick to move him, but after his recent performances, they may be realistically still looking at a 4th round pick. In the battle of ‘Downs brothers,’ his younger brother, starting Dallas safety, Caleb Downs, clearly got the upper hand of big brother with the game-clinching interception off Jones, a sack, and even better for him, leaving Indy with the road win.
- CB Sauce Gardner: Look, Sauce didn’t make the trade for the Colts to acquire him for two first round picks and AD Mitchell, but Indianapolis clearly hasn’t gotten the return for an elite shutdown cornerback that they were envisioning to-date. I actually thought Sauce had played well in this one, until he gave up a back-breaking 46-yard reception to Cowboys wideout Ryan Flournoy with 1:24 left that set up Dallas for the would-be game-winning touchdown. This wasn’t even All-Pro CeeDee Lamb who beat him deep, as an elite wideout that I could actually live with. Gardner’s just given up too many big plays downfield this year.
