Colts beating themselves with ridiculous offsides penalties

The Chiefs have played well against the Colts in the Divisional Round, but Indianapolis has also been shooting itself in the foot with a barrage of penalties.

Many football enthusiasts were very high on the Indianapolis Colts coming into the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs.

Against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, Indianapolis appeared to be the team that was getting hot at the perfect time, having won 10 of their last 11 games. They had been praised for their very effective run game, and most importantly, their defense that has been clicking as well as ever.

But as it turns out, that seemingly dangerous Colts defense is the biggest reason why they are getting blown out of the game. Their theme of the day has been getting flagged for offsides penalties — they had already accumulated five of them by the early stages of the third quarter, including one that negated an interception.

When your defense consistently gives Patrick Mahomes second chances, he’s going to burn you. And thus far, that’s exactly how the game has played out, with Kansas City leading 24-7 in the third quarter — Mahomes has already thrown for over 230 yards.

Sure, it doesn’t help that Andrew Luck and the Colts offense came out looking as flat as pancake. They didn’t even record a first down until the tail end of the first half.

But if the Colts’ defense wasn’t consistently gifting do-overs to Mahomes, they might not be staring down into the barrel at a 17-point deficit.