Will Reichard's 52-yard field goal with 1:39 left was the winner, and Harrison Smith made sure it stayed that way 24 seconds later by intercepting Daniel Jones at the MIN 44 and returning it 15 yards to the IND 41. Vikings 16, Colts 10. Minnesota is 6-0. Indianapolis is 2-5.
The Colts lost this game by getting away from the one thing that was working, and that is a coaching failure, not a talent gap. Jonathan Taylor carried 18 times for 95 yards and a touchdown, broke a 38-yarder, and averaged 5.3 a carry against a defense that had no answer for him. Seth McGowan added 11 carries for 46 yards on top of 140 kickoff return yards. Indianapolis moved the ball on the ground all afternoon and then, with 1:15 left and the game on the line, went no-huddle, shotgun, and asked Daniel Jones to throw it to Will Mallory.
Mallory had three targets and zero catches. Jones finished 13 of 22 for 108 yards with no touchdowns, one interception and a 52.8 rating, and he was sacked four times for 44 yards lost. That is a passer averaging 4.9 yards an attempt. Handing the final possession to that player, in that formation, with that target, while Taylor stands next to him is the whole loss in one snap. Reichard's kick was the difference on the scoreboard. The difference in the game was who each staff trusted when it got tight.
For fantasy purposes this is the Jonathan Taylor show and almost nothing else in Indianapolis. Taylor is a locked-in starter regardless of matchup because he is the only Colt who reliably converts touches into yards. Keenan Allen drew three targets and turned them into 31 yards. Josh Downs drew four and caught two for 18. Mo Alie-Cox was targeted twice and caught nothing. Jones' 4.9 yards per attempt is not a number you can build a WR3 around, and the four sacks for 44 yards of loss tell you the pocket isn't clean enough to trust anyone downstream of Taylor.
Minnesota's side is more interesting than the 6-0 record suggests, and less reassuring. Kyler Murray went 14 of 24 for 150 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and a 90.6 rating, and he took three sacks for 11 yards. Jordan Mason ran 15 times for 68 yards with a long of 12. Justin Jefferson caught 4 of 7 targets for 44 yards with a long of 21. Adetomiwa Adebawore got home for two sacks, and Cam Taylor-Britt added one.
That is 150 passing yards and 44 yards to Jefferson against a 2-5 opponent, at home, in a game Minnesota needed a 52-yard kick to survive. The Colts' defense pressured Murray and kept the Vikings out of the end zone when it mattered. A 6-0 team that wins this way is winning with defense and special teams, and that formula holds right up until it meets a quarterback who doesn't hand it back.
My read: bet against the Minnesota passing game before the record catches up to it. Jefferson at seven targets is fine, but 44 yards on those targets against this secondary is the warning, not the noise, and I'd take the under on his yardage next week. Meanwhile, Indianapolis has a real answer at running back and spent the last drive ignoring him. That's the kind of loss that gets people fired, and it should.
