Jake's Takes | Colts Yuck Their Way to Loss vs. Chargers

The Indianapolis Colts put another snoozer on the field on Monday night, falling to the Los Angeles Chargers at home, 20-3.

No matter the quarterback, the Indianapolis Colts (4-10-1) and their offense are just an ugly, boring product in 2022.

On Monday night in yet another nationally-televised, primetime game, they slogged out a 20-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers (8-7), which is now their fourth game this season with 10 or fewer points, and the second game in which they've failed to convert a third down.

Behind new quarterback Nick Foles, the Colts totaled just 173 yards of offense, were a combined 1-of-14 on third and fourth downs, were 0-of-1 in the red zone, had 3 turnovers, 7 sacks, 3 punts, and then had three consecutive drives resulting in turnovers on downs to end the game.

The team now has just two games remaining on the schedule until they (and viewers) are put out of their misery.

Here are my main takeaways from the evening.

© Robert Scheer/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

—Nick Foles starts, Colts get the same results. Statistically speaking, Foles' performance was right in line with the eye test, going 17-of-29 passing (58.6%) for 143 yards (4.9 YPA), 0 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and 7 sacks for a passer rating of 31.9. A couple of positives were that Foles did try and throw downfield more, plus the velocity of his passes was night and day from Matt Ryan's. However, that just meant that the ball made its way into the hands of defenders a little quicker. Given that he took first-team reps with the Colts for the first time this week, his lack of chemistry with the pass catchers was obvious.

Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

—Successful approach gets abandoned... again — If you've been following me here on Horseshoe Huddle, Twitter, the Locked On Colts podcast — wherever — I've been calling for the Colts to get rookie tight end Jelani Woods more involved. With an elite blend of size and athleticism, he's essentially a matchup advantage against whoever he faces. Foles and the Colts thought the same early on Monday, as Woods was targeted 4 times in the first quarter, bringing in 2 of them for 32 yards. However, he wouldn't get another look until 6:42 remaining in the game. Likewise, Alec Pierce caught 3-of-4 targets for 26 yards in the first half and then wasn't targeted again. The Colts have gotten pretty good at outsmarting themselves. Talented players with rare physical and athletic traits should be consistently involved.

Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

—Derwin James hit knocks him, Ashton Dulin out of the game. One of the lowlights of Monday night was Chargers safety Derwin James' ferocious hit on Colts wide receiver Ashton Dulin midway through the second quarter. The hit put Dulin into the concussion protocol while James was also evaluated, and it got James ejected. Two plays earlier, James was flagged for an ugly facemask penalty against Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. Regardless of opinion on the legality of James' hit, the officials will call that one in the modern NFL every time.

Derwin James was ejected for this hit on Ashton Dulin 😲https://t.co/uMoUp8wCcp

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 27, 2022

Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

—Kwity Paye, Dayo Odeyingbo a bright spot for the future. The Colts have a pair of exciting young defensive ends in Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo. On Monday night, Odeyingbo had 3 tackles (1 for loss) and 1.5 sacks, and 2 quarterback hits after posting 2.0 sacks and a tackle for loss last week. Paye had 3 tackles (1 for loss), 1 fumble recovery, and 1 hit. He had 1.0 sack and 2 tackles for loss last week.

Next, the Colts head out for their final road game of the season in Week 17 against the New York Giants.

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