MINNEAPOLIS – Joe Flacco ripped a 22-yard completion to tight end Kylen Granson on third down, Jonathan Taylor dashed 13 yards on the next play and the Colts were rolling to open their first appearance on Sunday Night Football in nearly two years.
But with the ball on the Minnesota Vikings' 26-yard line, Flacco and Taylor couldn't complete a handoff, with the ball bouncing across the line of scrimmage and into the waiting hands of safety Harrison Smith. The Colts didn't get the ball inside the Minnesota 30-yard line again until the fourth quarter, and none of their drives reached the red zone in a 21-13 Week 9 loss to the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.
The Colts fell to 4-5 on the season with Sunday's loss.
"I'm going to start with myself," head coach Shane Steichen said. "I'm the head coach, everything that's on that field I'm in charge of. So, I wasn't good enough."
The Colts only went three-and-out twice in nine possessions (not including an end-of-the-half kneel down), but without many big-chunk explosive plays – Granson's 22-yard catch was one of two plays of 20 or more yards – and too many self-inflicted mistakes, their offense was able to muster only two Matt Gay field goals against a stingy, aggressive Vikings defense.
"They definitely got after us," Flacco said. "They kind of did what they were going to do the whole game, and we just had a play here and there, but when we're shooting ourselves in the foot we're just not going to be able to keep drives going."
The Colts' three longest drives by play count and time all did not end in points. An eight-play drive in the second quarter after Vikings kicker Will Reichard missed a 53-yard field goal lasted three minutes and 51 seconds, but Gay's 53-yard field goal sailed wide left. A seven-play, 55-yard drive lasted just under three and a half minutes before Flacco was picked off on third-and-eight by cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., who undercut Josh Downs' out-breaking route for the interception.
And a critical late-game drive, with the Colts down by four midway through the fourth quarter, ended after nine plays and 4:02 when Flacco's passes on third-and-2 and fourth-and-2 both fell incomplete.
"We gotta stay on the field, bottom line," Taylor said. "We gotta stay on the field, put drives together. Have to. It's the National Football League. You gotta put drives together."
The Colts converted three of 10 third downs and were one of two on fourth down. The deepest they possessed the ball in Vikings territory was the 23-yard line, which came after safety Nick Cross picked off Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold immediately following Flacco's interception. The Colts settled for a field goal after gaining two yards on three plays; a touchdown would've tied the game early in the fourth quarter.
Brian Flores' Vikings defense mixed up its fronts and coverages, which made things challenging, but the Colts left Minnesota feeling like they left meat on the bone offensively.
"Credit to Minnesota. They do a lot of good things. But again, I'm the head coach. Everything that's on that field, my name's on it. So we did a lot of good things defensively. You know, they mixed up their coverages, blitz looks. We knew it was going to be a tough challenge coming into the game. That's a good football team we played, but at the end of the day it wasn't good enough and I've got to be better."
Flacco finished the night 16 of 27 (59.3 percent) for 179 yards with a 63.7 passer rating, while Taylor carried 13 times for 48 yards, tying a season low in rushing yards. Collectively, the Colts averaged 4.6 yards per play, their second-lowest rate this season. And the Colts possessed the ball for 23 minutes and six seconds; it was thee fifth game of the season in which the Colts held the ball for under 25 minutes.
"You definitely don't want to be 4-5, but we got the pieces — if you look at the roster, we have the pieces," Taylor said. "But for us, offensively, we got to stay on the field. We gotta find ways to stay on the field."
