The Colts overcame a toothless first-half performance to come from behind and earn a gritty 16-10 win over the Dolphins in Indianapolis on Sunday.
Anthony Richardson, making his first start in two games, showed clear rust in his return. The quarterback got off to a 1-for-7 start passing with a fumble on his first two drives as Miami jumped out to an early 7-0 lead.
While Richardson shoulders most of the responsibility for the flat offensive performance, head coach Shane Steichen, as usual, fell on the sword for his guys. “I didn’t do a good enough job offensively,” he said after the game. “I gotta do better,” he repeated in his postgame press conference.
The offense sleep-walked through the majority of the first half. As stagnant as ever, they failed to move into scoring position until Anthony Richardson found Michael Pittman Jr. late, setting Matt Gay up for a 52-yard field goal to cut the Dolphin’s lead to seven in the final seconds of the half.
The defense wasn’t much better. Similar to their disastrous performance in Green Bay earlier this season, they made it easy for a Tyler Huntley-led offense to move down the field. Indy was lucky to allow only two scores.
The second half proved much different.
The defense put together the best half of football we’ve seen all season. The key? A shutdown secondary. Indy’s cornerbacks held Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle to just two catches for 19 yards, both of which came with six minutes of game clock remaining.
“Those guys are as explosive as they get,” Steichen said, crediting defensive coordinator Gus Bradley for limiting their involvement.
Additionally, they shut the Dolphins out for the final two quarters, and came up with impactful plays when they were needed most.
Unlikely hero Segun Olubi forced a fumble and set the offense up for their only touchdown of the game with an 18-yard return inside Miami’s 28-yard line.
“We know we gotta play as one,” Richardson said to the media postgame. “I was telling the guys, ‘This is the one we gotta score.’”
They did score, as Tyler Goodson tied the game up at 10 with his first career touchdown. It was the only time the offense would find the end zone on Sunday.
After two more Matt Gay field goals, the Dolphins' offense had a chance to snatch the victory away from the Colts with 1:51 to play. They would allow Miami to move the ball down to the Indianapolis 33-yard line, but would ultimately force a turnover on downs.
It was far from the ideal way to close it out. But the Colts figured out a way to win without playing their best football.
“Perfection isn’t attainable,” Steichen said in his postgame locker room speech to the team. “It’s not, but if you chase perfection, you can catch excellence.”
Steichen’s squad is yet to put together an excellent performance this season, but they’ve shown they have the character to win the critical games.
“We found a way to win the game,” he said. “And that’s what matters.”
It’s a win that could prove to be crucial later down the line. Indy will hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Miami in the AFC standings come playoff time.
There's plenty for the Colts to clean up, especially on offense, heading into a pivotal week eight trip to Houston. Their opening-day rematch with the Texans could potentially alter the course of both team’s seasons.
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