Behind every win or every defeat there are always a number of factors that contribute to the result. But on Sunday against the Detroit Lions, the Indianapolis Colts had problems in the red zone and numerous penalties to overcome.
When facing a team of the Lions' caliber, which ranked first in offense and fifth in defense in Week 12, flawless play is essential, but the Colts failed to do that.
Let's start with the red zone. On two of their first three possessions, the Colts moved the ball well between the 20-yard lines and entered the red zone twice. Unfortunately, instead of scoring two touchdowns or even just one, they settled for two field goals.
Other self-inflicted errors contributed to the standstill of these drives. On the first possession, a penalty inside the five-yard line took them from a 3rd-and-2 to a 3rd-and-7 at the Lions' four-yard line.
Then, on their second trip to the red zone, Drew Ogletree dropped what should have been a touchdown pass. It was never going to be easy to score against the Lions, as they entered the game with the third-best red zone defense, but the Colts put themselves in a position to do so but couldn't capitalize on it.
Detroit's offense, meanwhile, was 3-for-4 in the red zone. At halftime, with the Lions leading 14-6 at that point, each team's success in the red zone was the difference.
When it comes to penalties, the Colts were called off 10 times, while the Lions were called off five times. Not only did these penalties put the Colts in some disadvantageous situations with extra yards to make up, but they also negated some big plays.
Penalties took away plays of 21 yards, 19 yards, seven yards and 30 yards from the Colts' offense and forced them to punt in the second half rather than get a crucial fourth-down conversion.
Five of those penalties came against the offensive line, which, in addition to the penalties, had a rough day as Anthony Richardson threw defenders in the face too often.
Against the best team in football, the Colts managed to move the ball on offense and held the highest scoring offense to X points below their season average.
The fact that they couldn't capitalize on their chances in the red zone, coupled with a number of penalties, made the already difficult task of winning this game even more difficult.