Colts vs. Raiders final score: Colts lose 33-25 to officially ruin their playoff hopes

The Colts still had slight playoff hopes entering today’s game, but they made quick work to ensure they wouldn’t still have those hopes after the game. It was an embarassing performance by the Colts, and... well, I don’t have to tell you: if you’ve watched the Colts play this year, you know the deal.

This team stinks. They had an ugly loss. Chuck Pagano and Ryan Grigson should be fired. Same story, different week. This time, it was a 33-25 loss to the Oakland Raiders on the road on Christmas Eve.

Honestly, the Colts gave their fans a nice Christmas gift: many Colts fans have stopped caring about this team, and now they don’t have to worry about playoff scenarios or anything like that for the final week of the season. So in other words, go enjoy your Christmas, Colts fans, and don’t let this crappy football team ruin it. There’s always next year (and if Grigson and Pagano are still running things, maybe another season right around .500!).

The Colts slowly began to fall apart in today’s game. They forced a punt on Oakland’s first two drives, but they weren’t able to score any points on their first two drives. They punted on one and then tried a fake field goal that was stuffed. But it didn’t look like the Raiders were getting much going offensively either... but they definitely figured things out. From that point, the Raiders would score a touchdown on each of their next five possessions. On those five drives, the Raiders ran 36 plays for 341 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 9.5 yards per play! On a span of five straight drives, the Raiders averaged nearly a first down every single play! This was as bad of an effort as we’ve seen from the Colts defense this year, and that’s saying a lot. It looked like they just rolled over and gave up - but since it’s surely impossible for Chuck Pagano’s team to quit on him (isn’t that the narrative?), then perhaps they’re really just that bad.

Indy’s offense wasn’t exempt from the bad football, either, particularly when it came to turnovers. Andrew Luck had two bad interceptions, while Frank Gore also had the rare fumble. The offense did make some plays - like Andrew Luck’s two touchdown passes or some nice runs from Gore and Turbin or Luck’s touchdown run - but it was inconsistent. We’ve seen that too often this year, and that inconsistent offense paired with a putrid defensive showing added up to a blowout. The Colts still racked up 391 yards, 20 first downs, 25 points, and converted half of their third down attempts, but the turnovers and inconsistency were killers.

And then, in typical Colts fashion, they made the score close at the end, probably so Jim Irsay can add it to his ‘almost wins’ column. After Derek Carr went down with an injury, the Colts then scored on two straight drives to bring it to a one-score game with 2:33 remaining. The Colts went on a 18-0 run to end the game, but like in some other games this year, it was too little, too late. Because in the end, with Matt McGloin in the game on 3rd and 8 with just over two minutes left he targeted Vontae Davis - everything the Colts could have hoped for in that scenario - and Amari Cooper just made a heck of a catch to convert.

So now the Colts are officially out of the playoff picture, just 7-8 with one game remaining. That’s unacceptable, but we’ll see whether Jim Irsay actually holds people accountable for it or not. But all that’s for later. For now, enjoy your Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations with loved ones, and don’t let this terrible Colts team ruin it for you.