The Indianapolis Colts had a late lead over the Dallas Cowboys, but were unable to hold on, losing 27-23.
With the clock at zero, here are our instant takeaways from the Colts' performance.
- Make that five consecutive losses for the now 2-7 Indianapolis Colts. When will the Colts find their next win?
- That said, credit to the Colts' offense for fighting their way back into this game. Given how the season has gone, it wasn't a given that was going to happen.
- After a dismal first half, with the passing game continuing to struggle, the Colts did string together two scoring drives in the second half and appeared to be positioned for a third before Jonathan Taylor's fumble. Spencer Shrader then added another field goal late.
- Some redemption for
Shrader. After missed kicks were costly a few weeks ago in Minnesota, he made two down the stretch in this game.
- Another game where the Colts' defense gave up over 500 yards to an opponent.
- The Colts' downfield passing game continues to be non-existent. While Ashton Dulin provided a spark with a 55-yard touchdown on a screen pass, the Colts' longest passing play otherwise was only 16 yards.
- Not helping Daniel Jones is that it doesn't look like the wide receivers or tight ends are winning their matchups.
- Josh Downs had what appeared to be two dropped passes.
- Adetomiwa Adebawore continues to have an impressive season.
- In other good news, rookie DE Caden Curry was in on two more big plays -- recovering a fumble and recording his first NFL sack.
- Helping keep the Colts in this game were the Cowboys' own mistakes. Dallas was penalized 14 times for a whopping 153 yards.
- The Colts' offense had five three-and-outs in this game, which contributed to the time-of-possession discrepancy between the two teams.
- According to PFF's early tracking data, the Colts' pass rush pressured Dak Prescott on 14 of his 38 dropbacks. Indianapolis recorded three sacks and 7 QB hits.
- It was again tough sledding in the run game early on, but the Colts did find some success late. Seth McGowan totaled 45 yards on six carries, with a long of 36 yards.
- Cowboys' WR CeeDee Lamb had a big game, catching 10 passes for 195 yards and a score.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Instant analysis of Colts' last-minute loss vs. Cowboys
