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Quote:Doyel: The Colts had to dig deep to lose this game

Gregg DoyelUpdated 2 hours ago
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Colts at Texans, 1 p.m. Sunday, CBS
CINCINNATI – Tarell Basham was strutting and dancing, because that’s what you do when you play for the Indianapolis Colts. You strut and dance, preen and pose. You don’t deserve to do any of that – my God, you’re the Colts – but this team routinely does the implausible. Even now, two months into a season that rolls along like a blooper reel, this team celebrates itself.

Basham, a rookie linebacker, had just chased down Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton on third-and-6 for his first career sack. It was midway through the fourth quarter of a game the Colts were winning by six points. He’s a rookie, he was feeling good, and he was dancing. Might have been the Funky Chicken. Whatever it was, it was too soon.


Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) is sacked by Cincinnati Bengals defensive end ...more

Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar

Because the Colts were about to Colt all over themselves.

To lose this game, the Colts had to dig deep. They had to call a stupid play, they had to execute it with extraordinary incompetence, and then they had to hope the similarly awful Bengals didn’t Bengal all over themselves.

This 2017 season being the imperfect storm that it is, all of those things happened. And this being the Colts, it happened immediately.

Two plays after Basham sacked Dalton and did the Funky Whatever, two plays after he was chased to the sideline by teammates smacking him playfully on the head – where he was engulfed by still more teammates pounding happily on his body – the Colts turned victory into a 24-23 loss to the Bengals.

You saw the decisive play, I’m guessing: Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw a short pass toward The Invisible Man, played this week and apparently every week by receiver T.Y. Hilton. Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap batted it high into the air, chased it down and rambled 16 yards into the end zone for touchdown.

Afterward, after the Colts found the Charlie Brown-iest way to lose a game, coach Chuck Pagano was despondent. A week ago, after a 27-0 loss to Jacksonville, Pagano stalked into his post-game news conference in a fury, disgusted and seething and glaring wide-eyed at reporters as he was saying things like “when you get your (butt) knocked down, you get up off the mat and you fight. Period. You don’t tuck your tail like a coward. You fight.”

A week later, after this 24-23 loss to the Bengals, Pagano was morose and muttering and making no eye contact when he was saying things like “this is a tough one” and “sometimes it doesn’t work out” and “we got the short end of the stick again.”

Pagano was miserable not just because the Colts should have won this game, but because he thinks they deserved to win. And let’s be clear: They did not deserve to win. Neither did the Bengals. Look, we’ve all seen games where we’re thinking: Too bad somebody had to lose.

This was the opposite.

Too bad somebody had to win.



Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) is sacked by Indianapolis Colts defensive end Henry Anderson (96)... more

Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar

Pagano didn’t see it that way, but then, that's Chuck. He sees what he wants. He thought the Colts played well enough to win, and he wasn’t the only one in that locker room on Sunday.

“I think we played all three phases well today,” said Brissett.

“We did everything right, but couldn’t come up with a win,” said Hilton.

“We did a lot of good things,” said Pagano.

The defense was excellent, but the offense produced just 331 yards – which over the course of this season would rank 28th in the NFL – thanks to a receiving corps that really needs to be traded for a large pizza or whatever General Manager Chris Ballard can get for these guys before Tuesday’s trade deadline. On special teams, the Colts had one punt blocked (it led to a Cincinnati field goal) and allowed another punt to be returned 29 yards. Colts return men brought back three kickoffs for an 18-yard average.

The Colts did not play “well” in all three phases. They did not do everything, or too terribly much of anything, “right.” They didn’t do “a lot” of good things. But enough about that. Let’s talk about the play that decided this game.

First, the call. Deep in their own territory, with a young quarterback who has been under duress all day, on second-and-6 with 7:05 left and the clock needing to churn, the Colts called for a dangerous pass play. That’s on offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, but Pagano is wearing a headset for a reason, right? Maybe he’s not listening to Chud. Maybe he’s listening to Bobby McFerrin singing “Don’t Worry Be Happy.”

Whatever he was hearing, Pagano let Brissett try a high-risk, minimal-reward pass that the 6-6 Dunlap swallowed whole. Who knew that might happen? Other than everybody, I mean. Dunlap led the NFL in 2016 with 15 passes batted down – seven more than anyone else – and Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said he scolds Dunlap because he tries to bat passes “way too much.”

So: Stupid play call.

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Poor pass, obviously, by Brissett. And poor blocking by Colts guard Joe Haeg, whose job on the play is to keep Dunlap’s hands engaged. It took a village to screw up that play, but the Colts found a way. They’re the village people.

Thing is, there were some bright spots for the Colts. Tight end Jack Doyle caught 12 passes for 121 yards and a TD. Defensive tackle Henry Anderson blocked a field goal and recorded a sack and had two other tackles for loss. Running back Marlon Mack turned a short pass into a 24-yard TD burst. Cornerback Pierre Desir chased down Bengals running back Joe Mixon after 65 yards to prevent a touchdown, and spent much of the day helping the Colts hold All-Pro receiver A.J. Green to three catches for 27 yards.

Plus: Frank Gore had 101 yards from scrimmage to become the ninth player in NFL history to reach 17,000; the other eight are in the Hall of Fame. Gore also passed Barry Sanders for sixth all-time in carries, another list where everyone ahead of him is enshrined in Canton. Speaking of Canton, kicker Adam Vinatieri moved into a tie with Gary Anderson for second on the all-time NFL scoring list with 2,434 points.

Wait, what am I doing? Finding the bright side in a regurgitated game the Colts somehow lost to the horrible Bengals to drop to 2-6? Maybe I’ve been around Pagano too much.

Remember how he walked into his news conference Sunday, despondent and muttering in a monotone as he stared downward? Well, he talked his way into a better mood. By the end of his news conference, the Chuck we know was back and in business.

“If you don’t give up, it will turn,” Pagano said, breaking into a smile and making eye contact around the room. “When that is, I don’t have a crystal ball. But I know if you go the other way, I know what the outcome will be. That’s not this team. They will do never that.”

Don’t worry, is what I’m here to tell Colts fans.

Be happy.

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter: @GreggDoyelStar or at facebook.com/gregg.doyel.