The Colts looked hopeless last week in a 46-9 loss to the Rams. At one point, we legitimately believed that Scott Tolzien might break the record for pick sixes thrown in a game before he got benched for Jacoby Brissett. Would the Colts be any better this week with Brissett starting?
Jacoby Brissett wasn’t enough to salvage the hopeless Colts
Anything involving the Colts is a low bar, but Brissett and Dorsett were both important contributors to their teams this week.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Yes. The Colts were in fact better with Brissett ... to a point.
Brissett’s best moment came midway through the second half when he led the Colts downfield on a 76-yard field goal drive. He was a perfect 7-for-7 to start the drive, getting the Colts all the way down to the 11-yard line. But he couldn’t close the deal, following that with a pair of incomplete passes. The Colts had to settle for the field goal.
Baby steps. None of this is to suggest that Brissett makes Andrew Luck irrelevant. It’s the Colts we’re talking about here, so Brissett’s main contribution was not being part of the problem, at least early in the game. He didn’t turn the ball over and managed the game effectively. Plus, he wasn’t a statue in the pocket, giving the beleaguered offensive line some help by being able to scramble outside the pocket when he needed to.
It’s a low bar in Indianapolis these days.
Things were going well enough, perfectly average anyway, for Brissett and the Colts until the last drive of regulation. A sack fumble lost them 8 yards, but Anthony Castonzo was at fault there, failing to block Chandler Jones and then getting flagged for holding on third down, forcing the Colts to punt.
On the first play of overtime, Brissett was picked off by Tyrann Mathieu at the Colts 21-yard line. Two plays later it set up a field goal for the Cardinals, giving them the win.
Brissett was still a better play than Tolzien for the Colts. But there’s only so much the quarterback can do. The Colts are terrible. There’s virtually no talent on the roster. There’s only so much an average backup is going to do for the Colts.
To get Brissett, the Colts sent little-used receiver Phillip Dorsett to the Patriots. He caught three passes for 68 yards, including two passes for more than 20.
He gave the Patriots a couple of big plays, which was touted as his specialty coming into the league. But somehow the Colts never found a way to get him the ball. He only had one game with the Colts were he had more than 68 yards.
Dorsett was the Colts’ first-round pick in 2015. All they needed to do to make him effective was send him to New England.
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