The Indianapolis Colts are now 8-3 after losing 23-20 to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime.
After rewatching the game, let’s highlight the good, the bad, and the ugly from the Colts’ Week 12 performance.
The good from the Colts’ Week 12 performance vs. the Chiefs
Special teams unit: It was a strong showing from this unit on Sunday. Rigoberto Sanchez pinned the Chiefs inside the 20-yard line on five of his six punt attempts. Anthony Gould averaged 16.3 yards per punt return, Ashton Dulin had a kick return of 40 yards, and Michael Badgley was perfect on field goal and extra point attempts. The Chiefs’ return game, meanwhile, averaged 1.8 yards per punt attempt and 23.0 yards per kick return.
Colts won the turnover battle: Oftentimes, if you win the turnover battle, you’re going to put yourself in a position to win the game, which the Colts did. The defense came up with two turnovers while the Colts’ offense didn’t give the ball away at all.
Colts’ red zone defense: Kansas City would put up a lot of yards and made six red zone trips, which is a lot. However, the Colts’ defense held up, allowing just one touchdown.
The bad from the Colts’ Week 12 performance vs. the Chiefs
Way too many penalties: The Colts were penalized 11 times in this game for 83 yards. For some context, 8.5 penalties per game by Denver is the most in the NFL this season. To state the obvious, penalties end drives and keep the opponent on the field. That can be difficult to overcome.
Third down and fourth down defense: The Colts’ defense struggled to get off the field. Between third and fourth downs in this game, the Chiefs’ offense converted 9-of-18 opportunities. Over the course of the season, that 50% conversion rate would be the highest mark in football.
Time of possession: There are a lot of factors that went into this outcome, but the Chiefs controlled the time of possession in this game. Kansas City held the ball for 17 more minutes than the Colts and ended up running 41 more plays. Again, like the penalties, that level of discrepancy is very difficult to overcome.
The ugly from the Colts’ Week 12 performance vs. the Chiefs
Fourth quarter and overtime offense: The Colts went into the fourth quarter with a 20-9 lead. However, it quickly evaporated with the offense unable to move the ball. Between the Colts’ four possessions in the fourth quarter and overtime, they ran a grand total of 12 plays, going three-and-out on each possession. If the Colts are able to pick up even one first down, who knows if that game ends differently?
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Good, bad and ugly after rewatching Colts’ performance vs. Chiefs
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
