Hits And Misses: Matt Gay Steps Up

Source: Luke Hales / Getty

INDIANAPOLIS – Here’s our latest ‘hits and misses’ piece on 1075TheFan.com highlighting the good and bad from the previous game.

The Colts got a must-have victory over the Jets in Week 11, coming back to win 28-27.

What was the good and bad from the Colts (4-6) winning on the road?

1. Hits: Matt Gay

Matt Gay: Have we had Matt Gay in the ‘hit’ category yet this year? Probably not, but he certainly deserves it in how he kicked outdoors on Sunday. Gay connected on field goals form 41, 47 and 56 yards. These are the distances Gay had struggled with back in August/September. He’s been much better lately though, and then took it to another level on Sunday from these lengths.

2. Hits: Anthony Richardson

Anthony Richardson: Of course. We wrote a lot about Anthony Richardson after the best game of his career. What I’ll stress again is how much Richardson delivered with his right arm during the all-important 4^th quarter, going 8-of-10 for 129 yards, in completing his final 7 passes of the game.

3. Hits: Sneaky Return Game

Sneaky Return Game: It feels like the Colts have been pretty good at creating some hidden yardage in the return game. That was true on Sunday again with Josh Downs averaging 12.3 yards on 3 punt returns. Then, in the kick return game, Ashton Dulin took one for 43 yards and Tyler Goodson added a 33-yard return. These things shouldn’t be forgotten in a one-point win.

4. Misses: Offensive Line

Offensive Line: With 3 rookie offensive linemen starting, Sunday was probably the worst we’ve seen that unit play in 2024. Anthony Richardson was sacked twice (including a big third-quarter strip/sack), hit 5 times and the Jets had 7 tackles for loss against the Colts. Jonathan Taylor was stuffed time and time again running in the interior, as the Pro Bowler finished with just 57 yards on 24 carries (2.4 per carry). It’s pretty remarkable the Colts overcame this to score 28 points.

5. Misses: Defensive Volatility

Defensive Volatility: That was a wild afternoon for Gus Bradley’s defense. No first downs allowed until the final 2 minutes of the first half. Absurd. Then scores allowed to the Jets on 5 of the next 6 drives as New York scored a season-high 27 points. Also, absurd. And then the Colts finished the game with more defensive line playmaking. So why is the defense in the ‘miss’ category? Because you can’t allow a season-high in points to the 3-8 Jets.