Offensive line woes and rash of turnovers have Colts looking for fixes before trip to Germany

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Monday was clean up day for the Indianapolis Colts.

After four straight wins and eight games where the game plan was well executed, Sunday's 27-20 loss at Pittsburgh was a harsh reminder of just how quickly things can change in the NFL. What the Steelers did was to expose Indy's shortcomings by generating six turnovers and five sacks as the Colts had five penalties and far too many mistakes to earn a league-leading eighth win.

While much of the blame was assessed to Daniel Jones who had his worst game of the season, a subpar performance from what had been a good offensive line was equally problematic.

“Like I said, there's a few (plays), protection stuff that I could have done a better job helping our guys in certain situations and then you learn from those situations,” coach Shane Steichen said Monday. “You grow from them. Credit to those guys I thought they (the Steelers) did a good job on that side of the defense, and we've got to get those little things cleaned up.”

For the first two months of the season, the Colts (7-2) seemed to be on top of their game.

The line gave Jones plenty of time to make good decisions and accurate throws as he avoided the turnovers that short-circuited his career with the New York Giants.

The line also consistently was opening holes for Jonathan Taylor, the league's leading rusher.

On Sunday, neither happened and the consequences proved costly.

Jones was under constant duress, leading to three interceptions and two lost fumbles. Taylor, meanwhile, never really got started. Indy averaged a meager 2.9 yards on 19 carries for a total of 55 yards.

The result: All those miscues forced Indy's offense to become one-dimensional in a game that looked far more lopsided than the final score.

Still, the lingering question is whether Sunday's loss was an anomaly — or a glimpse into what to expect over the final eight games this season?

But at this point, Steichen & Co. believe they can find the solutions to avoid a repeat next weekend against the Atlanta Falcons (3-5) in Berlin, Germany.

“(The turnovers) can't happen,” Steichen said. “You're not going to win a lot of football games in this league (with six turnovers), so you've got to take ownership for that. You address it and make sure going forward you don't turn the ball over like that.”

Run defense. Indy has made major progress under new coordinator Lou Anarumo. Last season, it was allowing 131.8 yards rushing per game and was ranked No. 23. This season, it's yielding 87.0 yards and is No. 4, and it held up at Pittsburgh. The Steelers had 38 yards on 23 carries, 1.7 yards per carry.

Punt returns. With Indy's primary returner, Anthony Gould, out with a knee injury, receiver Josh Downs has taken over. Though he averaged 7.7 yards on three returns at Pittsburgh, it was the one he misplayed and allowed to bounce off his chest that started the turnover fest.

Germaine Pratt. The former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker was unemployed in mid-October after being released by the Las Vegas Raiders. But he was scooped up by Indy and reunited with Anarumo. He had four tackles in his Indy debut and has eight tackles in each of the past two, plus one pass defense.

Jones. After playing so well for eight weeks, it's hard to overlook what happened against the Steelers. In addition to throwing the interceptions, losing two of his three fumbles and taking a season-high five sacks, he completed a season-low 62% of his season high 50 throws.

Indy activated CB Jaylon Jones off injured reserve before Sunday's game and he played well in his first game back. Steichen reiterated Monday he had no new injuries to report, so the Colts will continue to monitor the progress of Gould, DE Samson Ebukam (knee) and DE Tyquan Lewis (groin) among others.

115 — Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr. each finished with 115 yards receiving, marking the first time this season a Colts receiver topped the 100-yard mark. Pittman had nine catches, Pierce had six.

The easy thing to do would be to write off Sunday's performance as a one-off. Steichen can't afford to, though. Indy had already planned to spend the first three days this week in Indy before flying to Germany and they're hoping the foresight of that decision helps give them enough time to make corrections before they head to Europe.

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