Colts give up go-ahead 88-yard TD with 10 men on the field, cap loss to Rams with Daniel Jones INT

The Indianapolis Colts suffered their first loss of the season Sunday to the Los Angeles Rams in brutal fashion.

With the game tied at 20-20, they allowed an 88-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Tutu Atwell with only 10 defenders on the field. Then Daniel Jones threw a deep interception on the ensuing Colts drive to ice the 27-20 Rams victory.

That all came on top of two Adonai Mitchell mistakes that negated would-be Colts touchdowns.

But looking back, nothing will be more painful in Indianapolis than Atwell’s late touchdown that came with the Colts playing a man down of defense.

After a Colts punt, the Rams started a drive at their own 12-yard line with 1:33 remaining in regulation. Stafford took a shotgun snap and found Atwell running uncovered for a deep ball that he took to the house for the go-ahead score.

There was a reason Atwell was so wide open. The broadcast view above shows that 10 Colts defenders were on the field before it zooms in.

An overhead view likewise shows that the the Colts were playing a man down.

And here are the dots, showing cornerback Mekhi Blackmon with no safety help when Atwell broke on the post route down the left sideline.

Then, on the ensuing Colts drive, Daniel Jones threw his second interception of the day to salt away the Rams win.

But those aren’t the only mistakes from Sunday that will haunt the Colts.

Early in the third quarter, Mitchell caught what looked like a 76-yard touchdown pass from Jones. But it only went 75. Mitchell dropped the ball just before he crossed the goal line. It bounced out of the back of the end zone and negated would would have been a sensational touchdown play to take a 17-14 lead.

Instead, it was a touchback and a turnover. The Rams took back control of the ball with their 13-10 lead intact.

Then, with the game tied late in the fourth quarter, Jonathan Taylor broke free for what looked like a 53-yard Colts touchdown on a spectacular run with 2:16 remaining.

But Mitchell got flagged for a downfield hold. Instead of a score, the result of the play 10-yard penalty, and the Colts eventually punted back to the Rams, who scored the go-ahead Atwell touchdown on the next play.

It’s hard to say if Taylor would’ve have broken through in the secondary without Mitchell’s hold. But the penalty ensured that his score didn’t account.

The loss was the first of the season for the Colts to drop them to 3-1. The Rams improve to 3-1 with the win.

Colts give up go-ahead 88-yard TD with 10 men on the field, cap loss to Rams with Daniel Jones INT

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