3 Good, 3 Bad in Colts’ Win Over Titans

Against the Titans in Week 13, safety Nick Cross and cornerback Tony Brown made their presence felt to Titans punter Ryan Stonehouse.

The first was a blocked punt from Cross that would be recovered by Grant Stuard and returned for a defensive touchdown. Cross outright made the play athletically and it turned the tide of momentum for Indy.

The second was gruesome for Stonehouse. On the play, special teams coordinator Brian Mason schemed Brown to come off of the outside gunner at the last second as the ball was in mid-snap. Brown would fly quickly to Stonehouse and blast the ball loose for a fumble. Segun Olubi would recover and nearly score.

Stonehouse’s leg was injured in the process of the punt and Brown’s collision with the football. He would later be carted off for evaluation.

The Colts love special teams through and through, and this game showcased why it means so much to Steichen.

At the end of it all, Gardner Minshew has four straight wins as the starting QB for the Colts through 12 games. They’re also in playoff contention, which nobody thought would happen. However, these wins likely aren’t due to Minshew, but to an entire team effort.

Minshew tossed a gorgeous, game-winning touchdown to Michael Pittman Jr., but overall, had an inopportune turnover and bad misses with receivers wide open.

On the day, Minshew had 26-of-42 completions for 312 yards and two touchdowns to no interceptions. However, he lost a costly fumble inside the 10-yard line right before halftime, which resulted in Indy getting nothing from the drive in a close game. However, Indy would rally for a Matt Gay field goal to pull with four points to end the first half.

Minshew also had bad misses to receivers when they were open. Pittman was missed at times, but the biggest was when receiver Alec Pierce was open for a potential second touchdown but was badly overthrown by Minshew.

Minshew is a backup QB, and likely the best in the NFL, but he can be reckless at times with the ball and his accuracy when receivers are open. He’ll look to tune this up to keep in the playoff race.

Together on the day, Pittman and Pierce combined for 205 of Minshew’s 312 passing yards.

Pittman shined, yet again, hauling in 11 catches for 105 yards and the game-winning TD, all on 16 targets. Pierce destroyed Tennessee’s secondary, averaging an explosive 33.3 yards on 3 catches for 100 yards.

While Pittman is playing at an incredible pace this season, Pierce finally had a game that the Colts coaches were waiting for. Perhaps this is the game Pierce needed to be unlocked in Steichen’s offense, as he often was open and roasting Titans defenders for deep-ball opportunities.

What happens next for the Colts? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second and sign up for our free newsletter and get breaking Colts news delivered to your inbox daily!

The Colts kept rookie Titans QB Will Levis uncomfortable, getting another 6 sacks and forcing him to be below 50% completion (16-of-33 passes). However, due to the heavy ground game, the Colts had to put a lot of defensive emphasis on containing Derrick Henry and Tyjae Spears.

DeAndre Hopkins (27), tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo (39), and receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (28) all had plays of 20 or more yards on passes from Levis.

While the Colts grabbed the win in the end, they need to contain big plays like this. Defensive tackle Grover Stewart returns next week and will be a massive plug-in for the run defense, who desperately needed him in this game against the Titans.

Going back to the 6 sacks the Colts notched on Levis, 4.0 of them came from defensive ends Samson Ebukam and Kwity Paye.

For Ebukam, he continues a torrid streak, now with two games in a row with 2.0 or more sacks. He leads the squad with 8.0 on the year.

Paye came into his own and returned to his early-season form, grabbing 2.0 of his sacks after grabbing 1.0 in the Colts’ Week 12 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He now possesses 7.5 sacks on the year.

With nothing but important games for the rest of 2023, this defensive front will look to continue being dominant in the pass rush.

Going back to a few entries before when talking about allowing big pass plays, the reason was due to a relentless approach by Titans offensive coordinator Tim Kelly to the ground game.

Below are the metrics on the day from Henry and Spears:

● Derrick Henry: 21 carries, 102 yards (4.9 avg), 2 TDs

● Tyjae Spears: 16 carries, 75 yards (4.7 avg)

Henry left the game early with a concussion, but Spears filled in and seemingly didn’t miss a beat.

This is due in part to the absence of Stewart in the interior, but a lot of these runs were to the edges, allowing Henry and Spears to outrun linebackers and challenge the secondary one-on-one in tackling.

This will need to improve for Indy to be serious about the playoffs, and Stewart will help a lot with bouncing back in run defense.