Cheers & Jeers: Colts-Lions
A blowout started with the adversity of a blocked punt that led to an ensuing touchdown pass, but the Indianapolis Colts didn’t panic.
Philip Rivers threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter and a Colts defense dominated the last three quarters in Sunday’s 41-21 road win over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
The Colts (5-2) ended up providing far more cheers than jeers in Week 8.
Cheers
— The Colts have won their last three games after a bye week.
— The 41 points scored are the most since Week 8 of 2018, when the Colts scored 42 against the Oakland Raiders.
— A stifling defense had five sacks, nine tackles for loss, one interception returned for a touchdown, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and limited the Lions to just 29 yards rushing.
— Five sacks were the most since Week 12 of 2017, when the Colts had eight against the Tennessee Titans.
— Not only do the Colts lead the NFL with 11 interceptions, they’ve had one in six consecutive games. The last time that happened was 2015.
— Nickel cornerback Kenny Moore II returned an interception 29 yards for a TD in the fourth quarter to build a 35-14 lead. It’s his first career pick-six.
Cornerback Kenny Moore II celebrates his first career pick-six.
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— It’s just the 11th time in franchise history that the Colts have returned three interceptions for a TD in a season.
— For the second time this season, the Colts held an opponent to less than 30 yards rushing, the other Chicago’s 29 in Week 4.
— Defensive linemen Tyquan Lewis and Denico Autry each had two sacks. The last time two Colts had two sacks in a game was Week 13 of 2014 with Raheem Brock and Dwight Freeney.
— Lewis made the most of his first start of the season as the defensive end had three solo tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, and one pass defenses. He tied his career-high in tackles for loss and sacks. He’s just the ninth player in the NFL this season to have two tackles for loss, two sacks, and one pass defended in a single game.
— In the first half, the Lions had the ball for just 7:54, converted only one third down, netted 80 total yards, and just five rushing yards. The latter was the fewest rushing yards allowed by the Colts in a first half since at least 2000.
— The Colts dominated time of possession overall, 37:46-22:14.
— After struggling in the red zone for much of the season, the Colts were perfect for a second consecutive week, scoring touchdowns on three drives inside the 20. That’s seven-for-seven in the past two games.
— Quarterback Philip Rivers threw three TD passes for a second consecutive game. He completed 23-of-33 passes for 262 yards and three TDs for a 123.5 passer rating.
— Rivers completed passes to 11 different targets.
— Reserve running back Jordan Wilkins rushed for a career-high 89 yards on 20 carries. He scored on a TD run as well as a two-point conversion rush.
— Reserve running back Nyheim Hines scored twice on pass receptions, just the second time he’s done that, the other in 2018 against Houston.
Nyheim Hines does a backflip after a TD catch.
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— Tight end Jack Doyle caught a TD pass for the second consecutive game. He passed Tom Mitchell (19) and Dwayne Allen for the fourth-most TDs by a tight end in team history.
— Tight end Trey Burton scored on a TD rush out of the wildcat formation for a second consecutive game. He’s just the third tight end to do that in NFL history and the first since 1968.
Trey Burton runs for a TD in a second consecutive game.
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— Linebacker Darius Leonard, in his first game back after missing two and a half due to a groin injury, had a team-high nine tackles including seven solos, and forced a fumble on his first sack of the season that defensive end Justin Houston recovered. It’s the first time the Colts have recovered a fumble and the Lions’ first fumble lost.
— The Colts had just three penalties for 19 yards.
— Punter Rigoberto Sanchez had four punts for 184 yards (46 avg.) with three downed inside the 20-yard line.
Jeers
— The Lions blocked Sanchez’s first punt in the first quarter. The Colts had a blocking breakdown on the right side, where Bobby Okereke and Wilkins were the closest to the defender.
— Rookie kicker Rodrigo Blankenship missed two extra-point kicks. They were the first of his NFL career. In college, he didn’t miss one in 200 attempts.
— Moore got beat on the Lions’ opening touchdown as Matthew Stafford hit Marvin Jones for a 25-yard score.
— Despite facing constant pocket pressure, Stafford was still able to throw three touchdown passes.
— Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton had just two receptions for nine yards before exiting in the second quarter with a groin injury.
— The Lions averaged 31 yards on two kickoff returns.
— Colts wide receiver Ashton Dulin had a fumble that went out of bounds.
— Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner had a season-low one tackle, and it was an assisted stop. The team leader in quarterback hits for the season also didn’t have one this game.
— The Lions drove 68 yards in eight plays for a touchdown in the second half’s opening possession to cut the Colts’ lead to 20-14.
— The Colts started the second half with two three-and-out possessions. They ran the ball the first three times and passes the second three-play stretch.
— Another common issue this season has been short yardage, and the Colts failed to convert on a third-and-2 rush when Wilkins was stopped for a 1-yard gain in the third quarter. Jonathan Taylor also came up a yard short on a third-and-4 rush in the first half.
— After Stafford should have been sacked but eluded pressure, he completed a 73-yard pass to Marvin Hall, who beat Colts cornerback Xavier Rhodes.
(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)
