The Indianapolis Colts lost in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 23-20. The Colts are now 8-3 on the season.
With the dust having settled on Sunday’s action, let’s highlight our initial takeaways from the Colts’ performance.
– It was a tough day for the run game. Jonathan Taylor totaled just 58 yards on 16 carries against the Kansas City defense.
– The offense couldn’t get anything going late in this game. In the fourth quarter, the Colts had three drives that each went three-and-out. Their one drive in overtime was a three-and-out as well.
– Daniel Jones completed 19-of-31 passes for 181 yards with two scores. He averaged a season-low 5.8 yards per pass attempt.
– Colts’ linebackers Germaine Pratt and Zaire Franklin combined for a whopping 34 tackles in this game.
– Through three quarters, the Chiefs had only nine points, but they ended up being quite productive. Patrick Mahomes threw for 352 yards, Kareem Hunt rushed for 104 yards, and Rashee Rice had 141 receiving yards.
– Helping the Chiefs pull off the comeback was their efficiency on critical downs. When it was all said and done, the Chiefs were 9-of-18 on third and fourth downs in this game. The Colts were a modest 5-for-13.
– Penalties were a major problem for Indianapolis, who was penalized 11 times for 83 yards in this game. Those penalties extend drives for the opponent and end drives for the Colts’ own offense.
– The Colts are 6-0 at home this season and just 2-3 on the road.
– That was Laiatu Latu’s third interception of the season in this game. An impressive feat for a defensive end.
– In part because of their success on third and fourth downs, while the Colts struggled to sustain drives late, the Chiefs controlled the time of possession in this game, holding the ball for over 17 minutes longer than the Colts. Kansas City also ran 91 plays to the Colts’ 50 — that’s tough to overcome.
– The Colts defense was excellent in the red zone, allowing just one touchdown on six scoring attempts.
– Rigoberto Sanchez was quite good, averaging 49.0 yards per punt, while pinning the Chiefs inside the 20-yard line five times. Kicker Michael Badgley bounced back from the Atlanta game with a perfect performance.
(Please note that this article will be updated.)
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Initial takeaways from Colts’ overtime loss vs. Chiefs
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
