The Colts' offense officially reached rock bottom on Sunday. Actually, they might have gone below that.
With first place in the AFC South on the line, the Indy's offense fizzled out in a 16-10 loss to the Texans.
How ugly did things get for Indy?
The Colts only put up 190 yards of offense, which was team's lowest total since 2011. You remember 2011, don't you? That was the year Curtis Painter, Dan Orlovsky and Kerry Collins led a horrible Colts team to a 2-14 record.
The 2015 Colts looked like the 2011 Colts in more ways than one on Sunday. The Colts only totaled 140 passing yards against Houston, which was also the team's lowest total since 2011.
It gets worse.
The 2015 Colts even managed to do something that the 2011 Colts never did: They lost at home to the Texans. Before Sunday, no Colts team had ever lost to the Texans in Indianapolis.
It's hard to pin the blame on anyone for the Colts' loss, so let's just all agree on one thing: Indianapolis needs Andrew Luck back and they need him now.
That wasn't evident four weeks ago when Matt Hasselbeck was on the tail end of a four-game winning streak, but it's evident now as the Colts fight to stay alive in the race for the AFC South title.
It's a title that's not going to be won with Hasselbeck, who's just too old to make it through an entire season. There's a reason you don't see many 40-year-old quarterbacks in the NFL and that's because the league just isn't old-person friendly. That's not an ageist statement, it's a fact: A player's body gets beat up every time they play and once they hit 40, it just doesn't recover as quickly.
Hasselbeck was on fire when he only had to play four games over two months, but now that he's had to play five games in five weeks, he's fallen apart. The Colts quarterback was only 17 of 30 for 147 yards before being knocked out of the game on Sunday.
Yes, the Texans have a good defense and that could be why Hasselbeck struggled on Sunday, but let's not forget he also struggled in losses to Pittsburgh (22nd-ranked defense) and Jacksonville (20th) over the past two weeks. Let's also not forget that all Hasselbeck had to do against Houston was outduel Brandon Weeden, something he couldn't do.
Hasselbeck has given the Colts everything he has and now the Colts need to hope that Luck can come back and save the season.
If Luck doesn't get healthy soon, the Colts 2015 season is going to end like their 2011 season: Out of the playoffs and with a fired coach.
There's a lot of people in Indianapolis who will be hoping that Luck's kidneys magically heal themselves this week. Of course, if the Texans win out, Luck won't be able to save Indy's season and there could be a front office overhaul anyway.
| Team | Grade | Analysis |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinals 40, Eagles 17 | ||
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A | The already explosive Cardinals offensive unveiled a new weapon in Philadelphia: David Johnson. The rookie running back ran for 187 yards and three touchdowns. Johnson helped the Cards total 230 rushing as a team, marking only the third time since 1997 that the Cards have rushed for 230 or more rushing yards. The Cardinals have so many weapons now, it's almost unfair. Arizona has now won 12 games for the first time in franchise history. |
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D | This game got ugly in the second half because Sam Bradford kept giving the ball to Arizona. The Eagles turned the ball over four times in the second half, with three of those coming from Bradford, who threw a pick-6 in the third quarter that iced the loss. The Eagles only trailed 17-10 at the half, but were outscored 23-7 in the second half. The loss really doesn't matter though, if the Eagles win out, they're in the playoffs as the NFC East champs. |
| Panthers 38, Giants 35 | ||
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B+ | Cam Newton is so good, he's now doing things that no one in NFL history has ever done before. In the win over the Giants, Newton became the first QB ever to threw 5 TD passes and rush for at least 100 yards in the game. Newton was also only the second QB to pass for over 300 yards (340) and hit 100 rushing yards in the same game. Newton was the reason Carolina held on for the win. |
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B+ | With time winding down in the third quarter, the Giants looked to be left for dead: They were trailing 35-7 against a team with the NFL's third-ranked defense. Eli Manning's four TD passes over the game's final 16 minutes was almost enough to pull off the comeback. The Odell Beckham-Josh Norman battle ended in a draw after getting nasty. ODB had zero catches in the first half, but played a vital part in the Giants' comeback, catching 6 passes for 76 yards and a game-tying TD in the fourth quarter. |
| Patriots 33, Titans 16 | ||
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C- | After losing Marcus Mariota in the second quarter, Zach Mettenberger almost played well enough to keep the Titans in the game, but he didn't. The Titans backup QB threw two interceptions and Tennessee ended up losing by 17 points, despite a spirited performance from the Titans defense. Tennessee held the Patriots to 346 total yards, marking only the third time in 14 games that New England hasn't hit the 350-yard mark. |
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B+ | The Patriots might have finally proved that they can make anyone good. New England's leading rusher on Sunday was a guy named Joey Iosefa, a 2015 seventh-round pick who was signed off their practice squad the day before the game. Tom Brady had machine-like game, throwing for 264 yards and two touchdowns, which included a five-yard scoring pass in the first quarter to his favorite target: Rob Gronkowski. |
| Chiefs 34, Ravens 14 | ||
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A | The Chiefs might not ever lose again. The win over Baltimore gave Kansas City its eighth straight win and literally everyone on the team contributed to this win: The Chiefs scored two offensive touchdowns, two defensive touchdowns and Cairo Santos added two field goals (53, 32). The most impressive play of the game probably came from cornerback Marcus Peters, who returned a fourth quarter interception 90-yards for a touchdown to ice the win. |
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D | The Ravens took the field in ugly gold pants and then things only got uglier from there. Although Baltimore got blown out, Ravens fans did get treated to one highlight: A 48-yard Hail Mary touchdown from Jimmy Clausen to Kamar Aiken right before halftime. |
| Falcons 23, Jaguars 17 | ||
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B | The Falcons ended their six-game losing streak by doing what they do best: Getting the ball to Julio Jones as often as possible. Jones caught nine passes for 118 yards and a touchdown in the win. The Falcons defense came alive in the fourth quarter, holding the Jaguars offense to just 28 total yards on three possessions. |
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C- | The Jaguars' potential game-winning drive ended after they couldn't convert on fourth down, which makes sense because the Jags couldn't convert anything against Atlanta. Jacksonville went 0-for-9 combined on third- and fourth-down attempts. |
| Vikings 38, Bears 17 | ||
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D | An ugly season got even uglier for the Bears thanks in large part to the fact that Bears offensive line provided no protection for Jay Cutler. Cutler was sacked a season-high five times in the loss. One of those sacks led to a lost fumble, which killed a Bears drive that had been in Vikings' territory. |
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A | It's fitting that it's Christmas week because Teddy Bridgewater was handing out gifts to everyone on Sunday in the form of touchdown passes. Bridgewater threw two to Stefon Diggs and one each to Jerick McKinnon and Zach Line for a career-high four touchdown passes. Bridgewater also chipped in a touchdown on the ground with a 12-yard score in the third quarter. Bridgewater was zoned-in against the Bears, going 17 of 20 for 231 yards. |
| Texans 16, Colts 10 | ||
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A | For the first time in franchise history, the Texans won in game in Indianapolis, which is they're getting an 'A' here. Not only did the Texans win in their biggest game of the season, but they did with Brandon Weeden, who took over at QB after T.J. Yates went down with a torn ACL. Weeden and the Texans offense got some serious help from Alfred Blue, who rushed for 107 yards. The Texans defense held Indy to 190 yards of offense, marking the first time since 2012 and only the 10th time in franchise history that the Texans have held a team below 200 yards. |
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C- | The Colts offense was ugly the entire game, but it got especially ugly in the second half as Indy only totaled 68 yards. |
| Redskins 35, Bills 25 | ||
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F | You could probably argue a 'D' grade here for the Bills, but they're getting an 'F' for two reasons: 1.) They looked ugly early, falling behind 28-3 and 2.) They're now eliminated from the playoffs for the 16th straight year, which is almost enough to make a Bills fan cry. Buffalo currently has the longest postseason drought in the NFL. |
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A | Kirk Cousins playing at home has turned into the most unstoppable force in the NFL. Cousins tied a career-high with four TD passes and even tacked on a rushing TD for good measure. DeSean Jackson was on the receiving end of 153 of Cousins' 319 passing yards, making Sunday's game Jackson's second biggest one ever in a Redskins uniform. Thanks to Cousins and Jackson, the Redskins will be heading into Week 16 with at least a share of the NFC East lead. |
| Seahawks 30, Browns 13 | ||
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C | The scoreboard says this was a blowout, and it was, but don't let that overshadow that fact that Johnny Manziel actually played pretty well. Manziel's numbers weren't huge (19 of 32, 161 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), but he did play well enough that the Browns have to be seriously considering giving him the starting job in 2016. |
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A | It's almost not fair to have Doug Baldwin and Russell Wilson on the same team at this point. The two connected for two touchdowns against Cleveland, giving the duo a total of 10 touchdowns over Seattle's past four games. To put Baldwin's performance in perspective, Jerry Rice is the only other receiver in NFL history to catch 10 TD passes in four games (1987). Wilson also made some history, the Seahawks quarterback became the first player ever to throw three or more TDs with no interceptions in five straight games. Wilson threw for 249 yards and 3 TDs in the win. |
| Packers 30, Raiders 20 | ||
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B | The Packers have become the masters of winning ugly recently. Green Bay won, despite only putting up 293 yards in total offense, marking the first time since 2012 that the Packers won with less than 300 yards offense. |
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C | The Raiders were crushed by two Derek Carr interceptions on Sunday. The first one gave Green Bay possession on Oakland's 17-yard line and the Packers would score a TD three plays after the pick. Carr's second interception was returned for a touchdown by Damarious Randall. If Carr had avoided those mistakes, this is a game the Raiders could've won. |
| Bengals 24, 49ers 14 | ||
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B+ | The Bengals could've started anyone at quarterback with the way the team's defense played against San Francisco. The Bengals defense forced four turnovers, which led to two Cincinnati touchdowns. The Bengals only put up 242 yards in AJ McCarron's debut, marking the first time since 2013 that Cincy won with under 250 yards of offense. |
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C- | Blaine Gabbert threw the ball 50 times in this game. The 49ers have a lot of problems and none of them are going be solved by having Gabbert throw the ball 50 times. |
| Steelers 34, Broncos 27 | ||
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B- | The Broncos could have a quarterback controversey soon if Peyton Manning's ready to play in Week 16. Brock Osweiler probably could've probably kept that from happening if Denver had one, but that didn't happen. Osweiler and the Broncos offense disappeared in the second half after scoring all 27 of their points in the first half. The Broncos had the ball nine times in the second half and each drive was uglier than the one before it. Here's how each drive ended: Punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, interception, turnover on down, turnover on downs. |
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B+ | If Antonio Brown's back is hurting this week, it's because he carried the Steelers to the win. The wide receiver caught 16 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns. Brown has now caught 16 or more passes twice in one season, something on other player in NFL history has ever done. |
| Chargers 30, Dolphins 14 | ||
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F | The Dolphins probably just need to get rid of everyone and start over from scratch. This game was over by halftime for the Dolphins. Miami only put up 77 yards in the first half and was trailing 23-0 by the end of the second quarter. |
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A | If this ends up being the last game the Chargers play in San Diego, then they went out with a bang. Philip Rivers and Danny Woodhead connected for three touchdowns and gave Chargers fans something to cheer about all afternoon. On the ground, Donald Brown was impressive for San Diego, carrying the ball 12 times for 90 yards, an average of 7.5 yards per carry. |
