Dopey Report Card (Colts vs. Titans)

Also known as the game that got Chris Ballard fired.

Note: The Chris Ballard firing was announced just before I began “Intangibles” in today’s Dopey Report Card. So I’ll post this now and have a whole lot more as the day goes on. Another column will be posted later.

RUN OFFENSE

Well, they did a few things well: For one, they ran the ball effectively against a Tennessee defense ranked fourth in the league against the run. Jonathan Taylor still failed to reach 100 yards rushing for the 13^th straight game, but finished with 94 yards on 21 carries, a 4.5 yards-per-carry average. Daniel Jones ran as well as I’ve seen him run this year, gaining 30 yards on three carries. In totality, the Colts rushed for 165 yards on 30 carries, a 5.5 average. Of course, all of that good work was negated by Taylor’s untimely fumble on the first play of the second half, which set the table for the Colts ultimate second-half collapse.

GRADE: B-

RUN DEFENSE

If you’re looking at pure stats to tell the story of this game, you’re out of luck. The Colts dominated in yards gained (399-186), time of possession (38:32-21:28), first downs (24-11) and anything else you can think of. But three turnovers, including a pair in the red zone, doomed them. They kept Tony Pollard in check, limiting him to 76 yards on 19 carries, a 4.0 average. And they kept elusive quarterback Cam Ward under control; he had three carries for seven yards. Yay.

GRADE: B

PASS OFFENSE

Oh, boy. Granted, Daniel Jones was terrible, throwing two horrendous picks and finishing with a 60.5 pass rating. But I’ll say this, too: The offensive line got absolutely worked, surrendering six sacks. The receivers stunk; Josh Downs dropped two or three passes, depending on how charitable you want to be today. (And I don’t feel charitable today). They gave up 11 – yes, 11 – quarterback hits. No wonder Jones was skittish Sunday. He got no help from anybody save for Keenan Allen, who had eight catches. The Titans had nine pass breakups, which suggests to me the receivers weren’t getting any separation. Without Alec Pierce (and Tyler Warren Sunday), the Colts are hosed. The growing question is, how long do you stick with Jones? I say you give him a long leash. You paid him way too much money to stand on the sidelines and, frankly, I don’t trust Anthony Richardson Sr. I stand by my conviction that Jones needs more time to fully recover from that Achilles tear, but if he’s still stinking out the joint three, four games from now, I take a look at Richardson. For now, it should be status quo. That’s not what most of you want to hear, but again, six sacks, 11 hits and dropped passes; it wasn’t all on Jones. If the Colts had one job Sunday, it was to control Jeffery Simmons, a fabulous player on a bad team. So what did Simmons do? How about six tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He was in Jones’ face all afternoon. Reminded me of the old days when J.J. Watt used to terrorize the Colts.

GRADE: D

PASS DEFENSE

Zero sacks. One quarterback hit. That’s pathetic and astonishing. Well, check that; not so astonishing. This is the worst pass rushing team in the league, so it doesn’t come as a surprise of any kind. Laiatu Latu had one tackle. That’s not to say that Cam Ward did any damage; he was 11-of-22 for a paltry 102 yards, but the Colts’ complete lack of a pass rush continues to be problematic. Cam Bynum had an interception and an interesting celebration; just don’t ask me what the celebration was. I’m 66 and not up on current cultural trends. I’ll ask my press-box neighbor James Boyd next time.

GRADE: C

SPECIAL TEAMS

Oh, my goodness. Last week, they were terrific. This Sunday, they were one of the primary reasons why the Colts managed to lose this game. Return man Chimere Dike had a back-breaking 58-yard punt return and was effective on kick returns. The real killer was the blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown. You could see it coming; the Titans nearly blocked two previous Rigo Sanchez punts. John “Bones” Fassel, the Titans experienced special-teams coach, saw his unit steal this game. The Colts special teams have been a strength all season under Brian Mason, but this was a complete disaster. I’ll be interested Tuesday to hear Indy’s coach explain what happened when we talk to coordinators Tuesday.

GRADE: F

COACHING

I’ve heard from some fans who are upset that Shane Steichen wasn’t more aggressive at the end of the first half, when they kicked a field goal to go up 13-0 at the half. I don’t understand the criticism. After Cam Bynum’s interception, the Colts took over at the Tennessee 49-yard line. They ran twice, got a first down. Then, at the 34-yard line, Jones threw incomplete, followed by one of Tennessee’s six sacks, pushing Indy back to the Titans’ 40. On third and 16, Jones threw an 11-yard completion to Keenan Allen, leaving them with a fourth-and-5. Of course, you take the field goal, don’t you? You take the points, right? You have to think, 13 points might be insurmountable for an anemic Tennessee team that hadn’t exceeded 20 points in a game all season. Tell me, what am I missing here?

GRADE: C-

INTANGIBLES

The news just broke as I was writing this (I will have another column later in the day): Chris Ballard is out. Got to say, I’m surprised at the timing; thought he’d be given the entire season. But Carlie Irsay-Gordon wanted to start the process of finding a new GM right away, and I can’t blame her. It should also be noted that season-ticket renewals went out last week and the first payment is due in November, which may more fully explain the timing on this. Stay tuned for more as things begin to unfold. As for the game, well, it was so bad, Carlie reached her wit’s end. This performance guaranteed that somebody was going to pay with their job. Just an awful performance, a soft and gutless performance. But what more can you expect from this group?

GRADE: F