A common theme is appearing.
Week 12 of the NFL season went pretty much to script from an Indianapolis Colts point of view. Losing 24-6 to the Super Bowl chasing Detroit Lions.
The Lions opened as strong favourites for the game, with the pre-match betting market having them as -7.5 points favourites.
Not only did they cover that spread, they did it both in the first half and then again in the second just for good measure.
It was a fairly comprehensive defeat for the Colts. Yes, penalties did not help. Every time the team started to get a bit of momentum, they would get called back for some misdemeanour.
In total the offense gave up eight penalties and the team 10 overall.
It was not just penalties though that cost the team; there were dropped catches, receivers not getting open, and on one occasion not getting both feet in bounds after an unbelievable Anthony Richardson pass.
Mistakes like this will affect any team performance. Making such mistakes against a team as complete and dominant as the Lions, and you can forget about winning. You have to play a near perfect game to get a result, and simply put, the Colts did not do that.
Beat bad teams, lose to good ones
This is not the only reason the Colts did not win Sunday though. That has been the theme over the course of the season.
A record of 5-7 overall, highlights a team that is inconsistent at best. Looking closer, Indy have beaten just one team with a record that is currently better than .500.
Indy are a team that beats those they are supposed to and loses when expected. When you throw in missed catches, missed tackles and enough flags to sail the seven seas, this Lions defeat really is no surprise.
But – and there is a but in all this – there is still the chance for the Colts to win the AFC South division. The Houston Texans, rather surprisingly lost to fellow division rivals the Tennessee Titans on Sunday to leave their season record at 7-5.
Both the Texans and Colts are on late bye weeks this year, Week 14, so both have five games left.
Looking at the schedule, the Colts have to play one more team who are currently sitting with a record above .500, the Denver Broncos.
Other than that they play teams whose chances of making the postseason are long gone. It certainly looks more favourable than the Texans run in. Among Houston’s schedule sit the back-to-back defending Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.
No doubt, it will be a challenge for the Colts from now on. They will be need to be perfect through the end of the year. But, there is a chance.
