Stampede Blue
The promising bid for a statement road win unraveled in the second half as the Indianapolis Colts were stunned by the Los Angeles Rams in Sunday’s 27-20 loss at SoFi Stadium.
The Colts fell apart once again in perhaps the worst team performance since the late 2024 season collapse at Mile High and the Meadowlands. Second-year receiver Adonai Mitchell committed two critical blunders that cost the Colts 14 points, cost himself his first career touchdown and directly impacted Indy’s chance to remain undefeated. Mitchell made a spectacular catch in stride to convert a third down, spun around to avoid Rams cornerback Emmanuel Forbers Jr., then raced down the sideline for what should have been a go-ahead TD. But Mitchell tried to switch the ball placement to his right hand and it slipped out of his hands in front of the goal line and through the back of the end zone for an unfortunate turnover.
Later in the fourth quarter, the Colts seemingly had retaken the lead on a 53-yard TD run by running back Jonathan Taylor, but a holding penalty against Mitchell negated another explosive score and instead set the offense back behind the sticks.
Colts quarterback Daniel Jones completed 24 of 33 passes for 262 yards and one touchdown, but was picked off twice in the loss. Both interceptions were caught by Rams safety Kam Curl to terminate the Colts opening drive and seal their fate on the final drive of the game.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford engineered two pivotal scoring drives at the end of each half, including the 88-yard haymaker to receiver Tutu Atwell with just 1:33 left to play. The Rams (3-1) answered in the final two minutes of the first half as Stafford orchestrated a 96-yard scoring drive, connecting with veteran receiver Davante Adams for a 10-yard touchdown to take a 13-10 lead into the locker room. Stafford needed just one play to capitalize when the Colts fielded just 10 players as cornerback Mekhi Blackmon fell down to allow Atwell to break free wide open for the game-winning score.
After both kickers traded field goals early, the Colts seized their first opportunity when head coach Shane Steichen successfully challenged the spot of a failed QB sneak on fourth down to take possession inside Rams territory. The Colts marched deeper into Rams territory with consecutive completions to receiver Josh Downs. Faced with fourth-and-1 from the 2-yard line, Jones fed rookie Tyler Warren on a fullback dive to bulldoze into the end zone for his first career NFL touchdown to take a 10-3 lead. Warren added five catches for 70 receiving yards and a rushing TD.
Indianapolis showed resilience and retaliated by piecing together an 11-play, 90-yard drive to retake the lead. With time winding down in the third quarter, Jones connected with receiver Michael Pittman Jr. for a 17-yard strike to breach Rams territory. Early in the fourth, Jones hit receiver Ashton Dulin for 11 yards on third down to keep the drive alive. Jones connected...
