If you expected Sunday night's game between the 4-0 Kansas City Chiefs and the 2-2 Indianapolis Colts to be a high scoring blowout, you were in for a nice surprise. Kansas City entered as a 10.5-point favorite at home, but that did not discourage head coach Frank Reich and the Colts, in fact Reich stated that they came into the game confident.
Until now, we didn't really know who the Colts were, and the argument could be made that we still don't. Are they the team that lost to the Raiders last week or the team that beat one of the premier teams in the league?
We do know this, when they are able to dictate the game, as they did on both sides of the ball last night, Indianapolis can beat anyone. Thanks to one of the best offensive lines in football, running back Marlon Mack was able to slice through Kansas City's defense for 132 rushing yards.
This not only kept the Chiefs off balance, but it let the Colts control the game's tempo and kept the ball out of Patrick Mahomes' hands. The key to their victory here was not letting the game become a high-scoring affair. The Colts don't have the same kind of firepower as the Chiefs and wouldn't be able to keep up in a shoot out, so they slowed down the tempo and ran the ball down their throat.
The Chief's didn't lose this game, the Colts just won it. That is a cliche, but that is exactly what happened. While dictating how the game was going to be played, their defense was outstanding.
Indianapolis was able to get key stops on third down which, again, kept the ball out of the MVP's hands and limited the number of chances Mahomes had to make the spectacular plays he is known for. In key moments, their defense stepped up and gave the offense a chance to kill clock and take Kansas City out of their game-plan.
It was only fitting that when it mattered most, it was former Chief Justin Houston that was able to make a huge fourth down stop and tackle Damien Williams behind the first down marker on fourth down. Houston was able to do what Khalil Mack couldn't, come up big in a revenge game against your former team.
We shouldn't omit the fact that Mahomes did hurt his ankle, which left him hampered a bit, but that doesn't take away from what Indianapolis did. They took it right to the Chiefs, unintimidated by the fact that they were facing an undefeated team at home.
Give all the credit in the world to the Colts by pulling off a stunner in Kansas City.
Follow Us
Subscribe