2. Collectively, the Colts learned a hard, stinging lesson.
Over the first dozen drives of Sunday’s game, if you remove turnovers, the Colts averaged -.045 EPA per play on offense while holding the Broncos to -.105 EPA/play on defense. The point of the first 12 possessions: Those were while the Colts either had the lead, or were trailing by one possession. And outside of those turnovers, the Colts did out-play the Broncos.
The problem is when you add back in turnovers – an Anthony Richardson interception, Jonathan Taylor’s goal-line mistake, Pittman’s lost fumble and Adonai Mitchell’s ill-fated double pass – the Broncos, even with three turnovers of their own, had a better EPA/play than the Colts (-.366 for Denver to -.479 for the Colts).
The Colts lost about 5.5 expected points on their five turnovers. But you also probably don’t need a number attached to understand how disastrous those plays were. Coupled with eight penalties, the Colts committed far too many self-inflicted mistakes to win a big game in December.
“You can’t beat yourself in this league, and that’s what we did yesterday,” head coach Shane Steichen said. “We have to learn from those times. I mean, they’re hard times, obviously. Like I said, we’ve got three games left guaranteed to us, and we’ve got to get ready for the Titans – bottom line.”
The Colts re-grouped on Monday left to digest a two-pronged reality: Their playoff chances are now slim, and collectively, players and coaches took accountability for those self-inflicted mistakes being their own doing.
“We talk about it,” Steichen said. “I show them to the team – all the clips, we go through them. Just hold everyone accountable in those situations that this can’t happen moving forward and everyone has got to be accountable. I’m accountable for my actions…obviously in those team meeting rooms accountability is a big part of it, and we go through all those clips. After a game review, the…
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