What Did The Colts Try To Accomplish Against The Cowboys?

Dec 7, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano against the Cleveland Browns during the third quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Colts won 25-24. Mandatory Credit: Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports

The Colts entered their Week 16 game against the Dallas Cowboys without a lot to play for and they definitely performed like it. It was as if not trying hard enough was part of the game plan so they could focus on the playoffs. I’m not saying they did give up the game, but it certainly looked like it, even when Chuck Pagano kept Andrew Luck and the starters playing until late in the third quarter.

So, with that in mind, what were they trying to accomplish against Dallas?

Indianapolis started the game with some pretty conservative play calling by offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, including an infuriating draw on third-and-fifteen on their first drive, as if they didn’t want to risk anything going terribly wrong. However, on fourth down, they called a fake punt which seemed like it was perfectly designed, but Dewey McDonald just dropped Pat McAfee’s pass. What?

After that, things just got a lot worse. Romo and the Cowboys offense were unstoppable. Whether it was Terrance Williams, Jason Witten, Dez Bryant or even Cole Beasley, the Colts, just like Pagano said during halftime, had no answers for them.

Either the Colts didn’t care about this game or they were simply abused by a much better team than them. Maybe a bit of both. Whatever it was, it was bad for Indianapolis.

If they didn’t care about this game (even though Pagano said they were actually going for the win), why play your starters for so long? Down by 28 at halftime, he still asked Luck and the rest of the starters to return to the game in the second half. Why send them out? Why risk a costly injury a couple weeks away from the playoffs?

Tight end Dwayne Allen had to leave the game with a knee injury. Reggie Wayne, who according to Pagano struggled because he was playing with countless injuries, kept playing until late in the fourth quarter, just as Boom Herron, the team’s best RB.

The Colts also wasted a perfect fake punt call in fourth down in a meaningless game, making that play useless now since opposing teams will prepare for it the coming weeks.

Now, if Indianapolis did try to win, then Pagano failed miserably to prepare his team for this game. The self-called “Monster” looked like a harmless puppy against Dallas. Overall, the defense’s effort was just sad to watch: lazy pursuits, poor coverages, no effort at all trying to tackle (if you can even call it that), nothing. We all knew the Colts struggled against good offenses, and this game only reinforced that thought.

For a defense that was supposedly using the loss against the New England Patriots as motivation, this humiliating loss won’t help at all. They were dominated and embarrassed over and over, even by Brandon Weeden. Sadly, you can’t play against mediocre QBs every week even if you play in the AFC South.

In the end, I guess you could say it was a bit of both. Probably the Colts tried to compete at first without risking too much, and gave up once it was clear nothing was going their way. Who knows. Whatever it was, it was not pretty.

Chuck Pagano has done lots of good things and lots of bad ones. What happened in Dallas definitely belongs to the latter.

Maybe you saw something I didn’t, so feel free to share your thoughts on this humiliating loss in the comments.