Shane Steichen caused uncertainty when he described his lost week as “sore, just really sore,” without mentioning any actual ailment. Given Richardson’s history with the tap-out and claiming to be exhausted on the field, it portrayed the quarterback in a negative light as being unable or unable to hold up and give it his all at this level, which the team source later said was not the case.
Steichen needed to mature from this type of terrible messaging after how he handled the benching, and this was a clue that it hadn’t happened yet. Given how they’ve discussed each other publicly this season, I’m curious about his connection with Richardson.
3. Jonathan Taylor kept the Colts in this game the same way he won last week’s game, by being an All-Pro and the one star player this team has that opponents can’t just scheme themselves away from.
For the first half, it was tough going on the ground, as Richardson’s loss negated a free block on zone concepts and made it clear who was getting the ball out of the backfield for a box-stacked defense. But sticking with Taylor often pays off, as he’s only one missed tackle or the proper combination of blocks away from breaking it the distance, as he did on a 26-yard cut-back score in the third quarter to put the Colts back in the game.
He’s not invincible, of course, and the Giants’ sprinting out of bounds on 3rd-and-1 in the third quarter to set up a fourth-down play was the latest example of such an electrifying player’s attention to detail failing.
Taylor has had a moment in Denver this season that he will never forget, and he demonstrated once more that he is not strong in the passing game. However, he remains one of the best pure runners in the sport, having surpassed 1,100 yards and eight touchdowns for the third time in five seasons.
4. Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr. are the two cornerstone skill players on this offense, and both showed out in this one.
Pittman appears to be moving slower than usual, owing to a back issue that has limited his mobility since Week 5. However, he delivered one of those high-volume and efficient performances that have eluded him this season. Pittman finished with nine catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. It was his season best in catch rate and catches, and it came at an important moment.
Questionable Shane Steichen decision
5. I didn’t understand why Steichen opted to run up the middle with Taylor on 3rd-and-8 to gain five yards and then pass up a 4th-and-3 against an overmatched opponent in order to attempt a 54-yard field goal outdoors and on the road.
Gay has struggled with long-distance kicks this season, going 3 for 8 on kicks of 50 yards or more. And it only looked like a matter of time before the Giants took control of the drive and got into the end zone, whereas the miss set them up for a short field goal that they converted into another touchdown only a few moments later.
Colts defense has its worst game of the season
6. This is the worst the Colts defense has played in any game this season, and that’s hard to top with what they did in Jacksonville and New England. But the Giants came in with a backup quarterback, a banged up No. 1 wide receiver and a disaster of an offensive line and piled up more points in this game alone than they had in the past four games combined.
The second half tightened up briefly when Jaylon Jones made a great play to blow up a toss on fourth down, but then the dam burst when Malik Nabers took a short pass, cut inside two missed tackles by Kenny Moore II and Samuel Womack, and outran a terrible Zaire Franklin angle to score the game-changing touchdown from 59 yards out.
That play summed up so much about this defense: poor tackling and players expecting there won’t be a play and giving up on it. The same thing happened on the next drive, and they ended up missing the playoffs once more.
7. Julian Blackmon missed a tackle by falling at the feet of Nabers on his 31-yard screen pass touchdown in the first quarter, and that’s unfortunately summed up too much of this contract season for him.
After having his best season as a strong safety last year, Blackmon has failed to produce big plays or simple ones this year, owing in large part to being switched to free safety and playing with a shoulder ailment sustained in the season opener. The Colts gave him one week off before moving him to the back line of defense in the hopes of keeping him from making hard tackles. And that’s where their collective inability to handle the run or stop passes across the middle has exposed him.
This is why the Colts needed to sign a game-changing free safety when Justin Simmons and Quandre Diggs were available for less than $10 million this season. They not only need difference-makers, but they could also use some depth in some positions to avoid forcing players to play as compromised versions of themselves.
