The Indianapolis Colts talked all week about how things would be different, but this felt frustratingly similar.
Facing third-and-19 from the Colts’ 23-yard line midway through the third quarter Sunday, the Tennessee Titans decided to be conservative and hand the ball off to Tony Pollard. The Indianapolis defense had 18 yards to force a fourth down and a potential field goal attempt. However, not only did the Colts concede the full 19 yards for a first down, they surrendered the entire 23 yards for a go-ahead touchdown.
Tony Pollard will not be brought down. 23-yard TD run on 3rd and 19!
📺: #INDvsTEN on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/Zx4OG9pDwW— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024
Pollard didn’t do anything particularly special as he galloped to the end zone. That run was less about him and more about the Colts’ season-long issues. The missed tackles, the lack of gap integrity and their overall inability to get a stop all came to a head as the Titans jumped ahead 17-10.
The run could have been a backbreaker. But how DC Gus Bradley’s maligned defense responded, at least during the final quarter of an eventual 20-17 victory over the Titans, showed their resiliency — even if it wasn’t pretty.
“To be honest with, we wasn’t as consistent as we wanted to be,” Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin said after the game. “I think it’s a lot to improve on, but I think at the end of the day, we got the win, and that’s what matters.”
The message on the sideline after Pollard’s TD was a simple one, according to cornerback Samuel Womack III: “Finish.”
The Colts (3-3) had just given up their 11th explosive play (a run of 12-plus yards or a completion of 16-plus yards) on third down this season, per TruMedia, which counts for 26.8% of the explosive plays Indianapolis has yielded overall. This one could’ve been lethal, but Womack said he and his teammates chose to submit to each other instead of submitting to their opponent.
“They were already accountable for themselves,” said Womack, who was on the other side of the field when Pollard broke free. “So, I mean, once you see that out of a person, out of multiple people, whoever messes up, I mean that just makes you respect them and wants you to keep going harder.”
Safety Julian Blackmon shouldered most of the blame after whiffing on what should have been a routine tackle.
“That was on me,” Blackmon said. “I gotta play better.”
With a quarter-plus left to redeem himself, Blackmon did play better — as did the entire team.
Tennessee (1-4) had five more possessions after Pollard’s go-ahead score. The results? Three punts, one interception and a series of failed last-second lateral attempts on the final possession of the game.
After Colts kicker Matt Gay nailed a 22-yard field goal to cut the Titans’ lead to 17-13 on the first play of the fourth quarter, Tennessee tried to seal the game by staying on the ground. It wasn’t a bad idea considering the Titans had totaled 23 carries for 128 yards through three quarters (5.6 yards per carry). Two more runs from Pollard, who’d finish with 17 carries for 93 yards (5.5 yards per carry), set Tennessee up with a third-and-1 from its own 39-yard line.
But Pollard’s third straight run, the Colts’ defense finally decided enough was enough. Rookie defensive end Laiatu Latu stonewalled Pollard in the backfield and drove him into the ground for no gain. The Titans were forced to punt.
“It’s just knowing that you got it in you,” Colts cornerback Kenny Moore II said of the stop. “ … Once you get that momentum going, that’s how you create that identity.”
A defensive identity, Moore admitted, that needs to be me complementary of an offense that continues giving Indianapolis a chance.
On the ensuing possession, Colts quarterback Joe Flacco led the team on an 11-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by Michael Pittman Jr.’s 10-yard TD catch. Despite nursing a back injury that Pittman revealed could still send him to injured reserve, his clutch grab proved to be the game winner.
Sticky coverage from cornerback Jaylon Jones and an interception by Blackmon — who dropped what should’ve been an easy interception in the second quarter, allowing Tennessee to later kick a field goal — put the finishing touches on arguably the Colts’ best defensive showing of the year.
“We couldn’t allow us to be the reason why we lose the game,” Blackmon said. “We gotta stand up, especially in the fourth quarter. We hadn’t been playing too well until the fourth, so we did what we needed to do.”
Bring the heat ➡️ Take the ball away
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/I4KqFW9AIB
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) October 13, 2024
Tennessee quarterback Will Levis finished with one touchdown against one interception. He completed 16-of-27 passes for just 95 passing yards, which is the fourth-lowest mark in the NFL this season for a QB with at least 25 attempts.
Titans receiver Calvin Ridley, who’s in the first year of four-year, $92 million deal in that makes him the highest paid receiver in the AFC South (based off total contract value), was held to zero catches on eight targets. That’s only happened 12 other times since 1993, per Colts.com.
One could argue that Indianapolis’ defense caught a break against a struggling team led by a struggling quarterback, especially when noting that the Colts’ last sack came back in Week 4. However, in a season where Indianapolis has already been on the wrong side of history a few times, good luck trying to place an asterisk on its first AFC South victory.
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“It’s an everyday grind. It’s an everyday conflict of trying to be the best version of ourselves,” Franklin said of the defense. “We gotta keep our head down. We gotta keep growing because we see who we can be.”
(Photo of Jaylon Jones: Denny Simmons / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
