The Colts had a chance to turn a messy afternoon into something useful, and for a while it looked like they might pull it off. Instead, Indianapolis let a late lead slip away and walked out of the matchup with the Cowboys on the wrong end of a 27-23 loss.
That result leaves the bigger picture unchanged for Indy. The rebuild is still the rebuild, and the franchise already made that clear with the trades of left guard Quenton Nelson and defensive lineman DeForest Buckner.
A win would have been a nice lift, sure, but it would not have changed the direction of the team. Still, losing after leading with less than two minutes left made this one sting a lot more.
There were a few bright spots tucked inside the defeat, starting with edge rusher Caden Curry. He’s still developing, but he keeps showing up around the ball.
In the first half, he recovered a fumble after Laiatu Latu knocked the ball loose from Dak Prescott, and later he added a sack. Curry may not have elite athleticism, but the effort never dips, and that motor is helping him grow into a useful piece of the pass rush.
Keenan Allen also kept adding to his résumé. He didn’t post a 100-yard day, but he remained steady as a receiver and reached a major milestone in the process.
His catches against Dallas moved him into eighth place all-time in receptions, passing Tim Brown. That’s another marker in what is already shaping up as a Pro Football Hall of Fame career.
Ashton Dulin gave the Colts one of their most explosive plays of the day. The team tried to hit him deep on one throw, though the coverage was tight. But on a screen, Dulin showed off his speed, got strong help from the blocking in front of him, and outran the Cowboys defense for a 55-yard touchdown.
Spencer Shrader also came through when the game was hanging in the balance. After a rough outing in which he missed a couple of field goals and said the first miss affected the second, he answered with a 59-yarder to tie the game in the fourth quarter.
The kick looked like it had room from 65 yards. Then, with less than two minutes left, he drilled another from 50 yards to put Indianapolis ahead 23-20.
Even after that earlier stumble, he remains arguably the Colts’ MVP in 2026. Without him, the record might be a lot uglier.
The loss also put Shane Steichen back under the microscope. The head coach has a reputation as an offensive mind, but his play-calling has not matched that label this season.
One sequence in the first half summed it up: Jonathan Taylor picked up six yards on first down, Seth McGowan added three on second, and then Steichen went to the pass on third down. That kind of choice has become a theme.
He also seems too boxed in by the absence of Alec Pierce. The Colts have not done enough to threaten defenses downfield, which lets opponents crowd the line and shrink the field. If Steichen is supposed to be the offensive mastermind, he has to find a way around that instead of rarely asking his quarterback to throw past the line of scrimmage.
Lou Anarumo landed in the loss column too. The defense had some good moments, but by the fourth quarter it was still surrendering 7 yards per play, a number that would rank last in the league, and had given up more than 400 total yards.
The Cowboys’ own penalties helped keep the damage from being even worse. Even so, the overall picture was not good enough.
Sauce Gardner also had a play he will want back. With 1:37 left and the Colts ahead 23-20, he allowed a 46-yard completion to a third-string wide receiver, and that kind of mistake can’t happen from a CB1.
The trade price that brought Gardner to Indianapolis included two first-round picks, so the expectations are high. A late breakdown like that in Week 9 does not meet them.
The crowd had its own rough night, too. Plenty of Colts fans stayed away, and at times the Cowboys fans were louder than the home crowd.
On the other side, Dallas supporters had to sit through an offense that kept flashing promise only to have it wiped out by penalty after penalty. It was an ugly football game all around, and the final score fit the mess.
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