As devastating as the Indianapolis Colts’ Week 17 loss to the New York Giants was, it unfortunately, isn’t uncharted waters for the organization and is reminiscent of a loss from a few years ago.
Rewind to Week 18 of the 2021 season, the 9-7 Colts were on the road to take on the 2-14 Jaguars. A win and the Colts would have clinched their second straight postseason berth.
But that isn’t how things played out. At halftime of that contest, the Jaguars had 239 yards on offense compared to the Colts 75 yards.
In the second half, Colts quarterback Carson Wentz was responsible for two turnovers, which turned into 10 points for the Jacksonville offense.
All of sudden, the Colts found themselves down 20 points, and would end up losing 26-11 and missing out on the playoffs.
Now, fast forward to present day, while slim, the Colts’ entered Sunday’s game with their playoff hopes still alive. Awaiting them was a two-win Giants team, who had lost 10 games in a row and was mustering just over 14 points per game on offense.
However, what ensued was a performance where the Colts’ defense surrendered 38 points and the Giants scored 45 in total thanks to a kickoff return for a touchdown.
All season long, the Colts’ defense has been plagued by big plays, both on the ground and through the air, and missed tackles. It was again those aspects that contributed to the Giants’ huge day.
The offense did its best to claw back and keep the Colts in the game with 100 yard performances from Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman, and Alec Pierce, but even this side of the ball failed to capitalize on a few scoring opportunities that ultimately made a difference in the game.
Two different seasons and two different coaching staffs but two very similar performance from the Colts with their season on the line and facing two struggling teams.
In a must-win game to either make the playoffs or to keep your playoff hopes alive and up against the worst team in football, the Colts laid an egg.
Losses such as this one that we saw on Sunday, and in 2021, go beyond the performance on the field–the problem is much deeper than that.