The Colts have now set a franchise record for most consecutive losses to start a season with 13, which was pretty much what everyone expected today. Once again the only scoring came in garbage time, with a Jacob Tamme TD catch from Dan Orlovsky with no time on the clock gave everyone betting on the Colts something to cheer about, but not really any of the casual fans. The Ravens controlled the game throughout, showing why they're probably the best team in the AFC.
The Colts could only manage 167 total yards on the day, and 76 of them came on the final drive of the game, meaning they only could muster 91 yards in the first 58 minutes of the game. Orlovsky was 17 of 37 for 136 yards, the lone TD and an interception. He also fumbled three times on Terrell Suggs sacks, but the Colts recovered all three of them. The Colts only ran the ball 16 times for 50 yards, regressing from what we've seen from the running game this season.
The defense played better this week, but still didn't play well early, giving up 17 points on the Ravens' first three possessions, but held them to 7 points the rest of the way, including forcing two turnovers and getting a 4th down and 1 stuff on Ray Rice, a great play by Kavell Conner. We also saw Dwight Freeney record two sacks, putting him over 100 for his career. Robert Mathis also had a pretty good day, making several really good run stops and getting pressure on Joe Flacco. Also it was good to see the kickoff return team do something for the first time all season, as Joe Lefeged had several returns past the 30, including one over mid-field. Small victories I guess.
On the injury front Ryan Diem was in and out of the game, but I think he finished the game. Philip Wheeler was taken off on a golf cart in the second half. I don't remember seeing any other injuries, so help me out if you remember seeing one.
The AFC South is the first division in the AFC to crown a champion, as the Texans, with their late TD against the Bengals, paired with the Titans loss gives them their first playoff appearance in franchise history. The Colts finish their schedule with a game against each of their three division rivals, starting with Tennessee next week.