Colts fall 45-33 to Giants, eliminated from playoff race

The Indianapolis Colts had everything to play for against the New York Giants in the penultimate game of the season.

The Colts (7-9) were without starting quarterback Anthony Richardson because of foot and back injuries and their chances of making the postseason for the first time since 2020 were slim even with a victory, but their performance in a 45-33 loss to the Giants was perplexing.

New York came into the game with the NFL’s worst offense. It had not won a home game all season at MetLife Stadium and it was on a franchise-record 10- game losing streak.

So what happens? Drew Lock threw four touchdown passes and ran for another, the defense intercepted two Joe Flacco passes and recovered a fumble and the Giants won for the first time since Oct. 6.

“It was as disappointing as it gets,” Colts second-year coach Shane Steichen said. “As the leader of a football team, shoot, I always say I’ve got to be better, we’ve all got to be better. That’s a group effort, everyone’s got to chip in and do their part, so stuff like that doesn’t happen.”

Steichen, who led the Colts to a 9-8 record in his first season as coach in 2023, was asked if he was worried about his job after the team failed to have more than a two-game winning streak this season.

“I control what I can control,” he said.

The Colts had their chances early with Flacco leading the offense, but they settled for a couple of early field goals by Matt Gay, while the Giants scored touchdowns on Lock passes to Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson for a 21-6 lead.

Indianapolis got back in the game and had a chance to tie the score at 28 after Flacco’s touchdown pass to Alec Pierce with 10:53 to play. The 2-point conversion play appeared ready to succeed after Flacco hit Michael Pittman with a pass in the flat that set up a lateral to Jonathan Taylor, but the running back dropped the ball.

“We had something to play for today and obviously we didn’t get it done,” said Flacco, who finished 26 of 38 for 330 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The Colts finish the season against Jacksonville at home next Sunday at 1 p.m.

“I know it’s a tough situation, obviously, when you’re out of the playoff hunt,” Steichen said. “But again, I told them we’ve got to be professional about it. That’s the biggest thing. We’ve got to show up and do our job still with one week left.”

The Colts haven’t made the playoffs since posting an 11-5 record in 2020.

“It’s hard to explain,” said Steichen. “We had to play a complete game. We haven’t done it all year. We have to be on the same page, and to go out there like that is obviously not good enough.”