Follow @MarcusDugan
30-27. 0-2. The calls were awful, but these are the only numbers that matter.
The 15-yard horse collar penalty that really wasn’t on a run for no gain helped set up a fourth quarter touchdown, but it never would’ve happened if not for the real killer: 3rd and 9 at the Philadelphia 22 – well within field goal range, Colts up 27-20, preparing to ice the game. T.Y. Hilton is pulled to the ground about 6-7 yards out, well before the ball arrives. Interception. No flag. Even if the penalty didn’t wind up leading to another touchdown, the game would’ve been essentially over with a field goal. Of course, there’s more to the story than one missed call.
The Colts Monday Night Football matchup with the Eagles started very well, actually. As John Gruden droned on about “spider 2 y banana” and which guys can “really run with the football,” Indianapolis proceeded to score 17 points through its first five possessions, eventually taking a 20-6 lead.
The defense held Philadelphia to a field goal on their first drive, in part by actually generating some pressure on quarterback Nick Foles (Sadly, there wouldn’t be much after that). The Colts then drove 72 yards – 54 of them on the ground – and Andrew Luck finished with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Ahmad Bradshaw on 4th and 1. You read that correctly, Chuck Pagano went for it on 4th and goal, and it was a brilliant call, a play action rollout against a heavy run blitz to a wide open running back.
Adam Vinatieri tacked on a 46-yard field goal to make it 10-3 Colts after a promising drive stalled out early in the second quarter. Following another Cody Parkey field goal for the Eagles, Luck answered with a 2-yard score to backup tight end and Hoosier native Jack Doyle. That touchdown pass, Luck’s 50th and Doyle’s first, sent the Colts to halftime with a 17-6 lead.
Vinatieri helped push the advantage to 20-6 with a chip shot. The score came with on a 4th and 2 on the Philadelphia 9, although conservative playcalling doesn’t seem so bad with a two score lead.
The Eagles finally found the endzone on a 1-yard LeSean McCoy run with around 4:30 left in the third. On the following drive, the old Trent Richardson showed up again and fumbled (his second of the game) on a 1-yard run. This time, the offense wasn’t able to recover, and 5 plays and 1:42 later, the Eagles scored the tying touchdown on a tired Colt defense.
The Colts answered with a methodical 12-play, 80-yard drive, culminating in a 7-yard touchdown pass to Bradshaw. 27-20, Colts, who immediately forced a three and out on defense.
With 10:17 left in the game, Indy got the ball back in good field position after a 22-yard punt return by Griff Whalen. The offense powered their way down to the Philadelphia 9-yard line, and then came the missed penalty. The cornerback covering Hilton essentially tackled him while the pass was in the air, and the free safety Malcom Jenkins snagged an easy interception.
!:43 of game clock later, the Eagles again tied the score. With 3:25 left in the game, the Colts elected to eat some clock instead of trying to score. Of course, had they been hyper aggressive and failed, they could’ve taken criticism for running no time off the clock and throwing their exhausted defense back out on the field.
Then again, that’s essentially what happened, and the Eagles drove into field goal range with a long pass to tight end zach Ertz – Colts linebackers struggled to cover Ertz all night – and a 17-yard run by Darren Sproles.
After one of those ridiculous last millisecond time out scenarios played out, Cody Parkey, who was traded from Indy to the Eagles during the preseason, hit the game winner from 36 yards out as the last seconds ticked away.
Some quick observations in no particular order:
– Trent Richardson began the game looking like he was ready to shut down his doubters with finality. He had 4 carries for 25 yards on the Colts’ second drive (1 for -4 on a bad play before that). After the initial burst, Richardson gradually turned back into Richardson with 16 carries for 58 yards, 3.6 yards per carry, and two fumbles (one lost). Meh. But he did look more like a legit running back overall (our standards for Trent are so low these days).
– Pat McAfee bailed the Colts out of some bad field position situations with huge punts. He boomed four of them into the air for an average of 55.3 yards with a long of 61.
– Of course, those field position issues would’ve never happened if not for penalties on two punt returns, each setting the offense up for a three and out after being pinned deep.
– Darren Srpoles. I don’t want to talk about it.
– Ahmad Bradshaw, please, sir, don’t get hurt. Obviously, it would be terrible for you. I’m sure you know, though, what you mean for this team.
– This team has not found the successor to Robert Mathis. They’ve had three years. They certainly have found some fine players, but this pass rush is going to be a killer all season, and I don’t mean that in a good way.
– Imagine Chip Kelly calling plays for Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton.
– Stop imagining it now. It’ll only make you sad.
– 0-2 was always a possibility with two brutal matchups in a row. Next week, well, it’s the Jaguars. Indy mustn’t take them for for granted, but they certainly aren’t on the level of the Eagles or Broncos.