Overview

The Indianapolis Colts battled the San Francisco 49ers in a monsoon on Sunday Night Football. This was the team’s second game of the season in primetime and this time around they finished off their opponent when they had their chance late in the game. It was a good night to be a Colts fan, despite the weather induced ugly play we saw on the field. Let’s take a look at some of the best (and worst) plays from last night’s win.

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First Quarter

Kenny Moore goes low

The game started out about as poorly as anyone rooting for the Colts could have imagined but we were given this highlight play from Kenny Moore and since they won the game in the end, I’ll cherish this memory until the CTE takes it away from me.

Just a really bad start

Just when I feel thankful that at least the offense is on the field

This was the first offensive play of the game. Morale was at an all time low. The defense then went out and forced a field goal. The offense came back out and this happened:

This was a lot of fun

Perfect throw, great catch, awesome play on third and 11. Carson Wentz’s day wasn’t all good. At one point he had made several plays that easily could have resulted in turnovers and he did so in a very short span of time.

Great play design

All Mo Alie-Cox does is catch touchdowns and I’m a big fan.

I can’t not mention this

Wentz was able to draw so many pass interference calls with underthrown deep balls. Intentional or not, it was effective in moving the ball down the field all game long.

Jonathan Taylor is a lot of fun to watch

Taylor had a great day running the ball and the acceleration he shows here between the 23ish yard line and the 17ish yard line is just silly. It doesn’t even make sense.

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Second Quarter

This was scored as a fumble

Initially this looked like a really bad interception. When they slowed it down the ball was knocked loose, Wentz’s hand moving forward pushed the ball into the arms of the defender and the rest is history. I can’t blame Wentz for trying to make this throw, unorthodox delivery and all, Zach Pascal was as open as anyone can ever be in the end zone. Either way another Colts red zone attempt ended without points.

Defense stepping up

Tyquon Lewis knifed through the offensive line to get a hit on Jimmy Garoppolo. I would say we could expect more plays like this from Lewis (and that could still happen) but the 49ers have had issues at the right guard spot all season long.

Jonathan Taylor was the best player on the field

It seemed like he couldn’t be stopped.

Bad decision

Soon after this play Wentz seemed to settle in and he cleaned up the mistakes. But things were pretty concerning for a while.

Nyheim Hines had a day to forget

Not Nyheim’s best day and this drop won’t help him feel better about his 1.75 yard per carry rushing average.

Darius Leonard is playing good ball

Early in the season Leonard took a lot of heat (from me, too) due to the fact that he wasn’t playing as well as in the past. The reason he wasn’t playing well is that he was not and still isn’t, fully recovered from off season ankle surgery. When Leonard has been running in the open field it’s easy to see that he isn’t able to run normally but to his credit he has found a way to play well in spite of his limited mobility. In my opinion this season is turning into Leonard’s most impressive due to the injury he’s playing through.

Taylor was so slippery, literally

He was wet, everyone was.

You’ve heard of Run-N-Gun, this offense is the Spray-N-Pray, you heard it here first

Pray-N-Spray Offense- all rights reserved

NBC’s camera work was bad but this option was great

Carson Wentz totally redeemed himself!

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Third Quarter

Kwity Paye sighting

Paye has flashed at times but hasn’t put it all together as a pass rusher while standing out as a run defender. Last night he was a split second late to get the sack but it meant he was there to recover the fumble. Paye finished the night with four tackles.

Defense gets another stop

If you’ve noticed a severe lack of highlights in the third quarter it’s because the rain made both defenses jobs really easy.

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Fourth Quarter

Suddenly the 49ers came back to life

I was having flashbacks of the Baltimore Ravens game.

But then the Colts offense woke up

Then they went back to bed.

But they got three out of it

Before the game there was a lot made of the fact that Michael Badgely missed seven kicks in warmups. I won’t lie, I was concerned. Instead Badgley came out and made everything that mattered.

The defense finished the game

This looked like a pick-six. It wasn’t, Rhodes stepped out. Either way it was a great play by the injured corner.

Michael Pittman Jr. had his coming out party on national television

The Indianapolis Colts have never had a receiver with Pittman’s skillset and it’s been really cool to see. Hopefully we get to watch Pittman wear a horseshoe for the next 8-10 years.

Khari Willis coming through

The Indy offense couldn’t quite run the clock out but this game was effectively over at this point.

DeForrest Buckner got a sack

In Buckner’s first game back in the bay area, his impact was felt most of the game and it had to feel good to finish the game against his old team with a sack.

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Final Thoughts

There were ups and downs most of the game but the team figured out a way to win. Every team has to figure out how to win, Aaron Rodgers even said so a few weeks ago on the Pat McAfee Show, early in the season this Colts team couldn’t figure out how they needed to put it all together to get a win. Now it seems that they’re figuring out what they need to do to end up on the right side of the scoreboard at the end of the day.

This was a great team win in an ugly game, now they have to turn around and take on the AFC South leading Tennessee Titans at home next Sunday. That game will tell us a lot about just who these Colts are going to be.

Go Colts.