INDIANAPOLIS – Crunch time is here, and the Indianapolis Colts are … well, what are they? Who are they? Besides an enigma in blue and white?
Look at the defense and what do you see? The steely unit that threw a three-hit shutout at Cincinnati? Or the leaky and flimsy bunch that sent New England running back Jonas Gray – formerly recognized by only friends, family and teammates – halfway to Canton?
Is the offense the well-balanced machine that ran up more points in the first half of the season than any team in the NFL? Or the one-dimensional clunker from Sunday night, when the running backs gained four yards in 14 carries?
“Thankful this is not the last game of the season,” Andrew Luck said when it was over. “We’d truly be sick to our stomachs.”
The nausea no doubt came when they watched the game films Monday.
The AFC South lead is down to one game. The chances of getting a playoff bye are growing more remote. The odds of having to make one of those lovely January trips to Denver or Foxborough are climbing. In two of its last three games, the defense has given 51 and 42 points, shredded in Pittsburgh by the pass and Sunday at home by the run. New England had 17 rushing first downs. Indianapolis had one. And now Ahmad Bradshaw has a broken leg.
“I don’t know what to call that performance from a defensive standpoint,” linebacker D’Qwell Jackson said. Oh, many of the paying customers probably had some ideas.
(Pause for statistical carnage. Gray had 131 career rushing yards before his Indianapolis visit. He had 199 in four quarters against the Colts. And his first, second, third and fourth career touchdowns.).
So what now?
“Do whatever we’ve got to do to fix this problem,” safety Mike Adams said. “Because for us to get to where we want to go, we’ve got to correct this problem, ASAP.”
ASAP, of course, meaning A Sieve Against Patriots.
The Colts have now lost four in a row to New England, giving up an average of 40.75 points. The Patriots have rushed for 478 yards their last two meetings.
The Colts had the perfect opportunity to send a message to the Patriots and the AFC about their intentions and were humbled beneath their own roof. At the most, it means Indianapolis is nowhere near the elite of its conference, so never mind any idle thoughts about the Super Bowl. At the very least, it makes the future more challenging.
“We’ve got to move on to next week,” Adams said. “I don’t know who we’ve got. I don’t care who we have. But we’re going to show up. We’ve got to show up.”
This might be a good time to gaze down the immediate home stretch.
Jacksonville at home. The Jaguars’ 1-9 record is a sight for the Colts’ sore eyes. Don’t even think about losing that one.
Washington at home. Ditto.
At Cleveland. What happens if the weather is lousy and the wind off Lake Erie is icy, and Indianapolis needs to grind it out on the ground?
Houston at home. By then, J.J. Watt might be governor of Texas. This could well be the day the AFC South is decided.
At Dallas. Could be the last chance to do something about home-field advantage.
Lastly, at Tennessee. Certainly winnable, if they need it.
“It doesn’t stop here,” Adams said Sunday night.
No, the guess is the Colts will bounce back in a big way this week. But one day they might run into a heavyweight again. Maybe even New England. And then you wonder. The annual get-together with the Patriots provided no answers, only questions.
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