Colts sink the Chargers scoring 5 TDs behind Jones, Taylor

What Indianapolis did on Sunday was simply too much for the Chargers to overcome. The Colts did to Los Angeles what they couldn’t do to the Rams three games ago — deliver the knockout punch.

Led by former Chargers offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, the Colts offense kept moving the ball and scoring at will. Jesse Minter’s defense had no answer all evening. At times, Jonathan Taylor ran untouched, and rookie tight end Ty Warren was left wide open.

The Chargers defense over the past month has been unrecognizable. It’s not the same group that held its own against Kansas City in Week 1, pressured Geno Smith in Week 2, or slowed down Bo Nix in Week 3. Instead, they’re committing costly penalties, turning the ball over, and failing to stop the run.

Jim Harbaugh’s team showed promise last season and through the first three weeks of this year, but that has all but disappeared. They can’t keep relying on Justin Herbert (37-for-55 for 420 yards three touchdowns, two interceptions) to throw on the cape and rescue them, like he did last week against Miami. 

The balance on offense, the edge on defense, and the efficiency on special teams are all missing.

Daniel Jones was nearly perfect on Sunday, strengthening his MVP case with a 23-of-34 performance for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Taylor added 16 touches for 132 total yards and three scores. Together, they accounted for five touchdowns as the Colts dominated from start to finish.

“We looked like shit today," safety Derwin James said. "We looked like trash today. We gave up 40 points in our own stadium.” 

Indianapolis wasted no time setting the tone. On their third play of the game, Jones hit Warren for a 29-yard gain, then found Taylor for 13 more. One play later, Taylor took a handoff untouched for a 23-yard touchdown to make it 6-0.

The Chargers’ first drive showed some life after a 25-yard pass interference call on cornerback Mekhi Blackmon, but they had to settle for a 43-yard field goal from Cameron Dicker to make it 6-3.

The Colts answered with a punishing 17-play drive that drained more than seven minutes off the clock. A questionable 4th-and-1 conversion — overturned by video review — kept the drive alive, and Jones capped it with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Michael Pittman Jr. to extend the lead to 13-3. The Colts went 3-for-3 on fourth downs during that drive.

The Chargers went three-and-out on their next series, giving the ball back to a red-hot Jones. Despite being sacked by Khalil Mack on 2nd-and-10, Jones hit Alec Pierce for 48 yards on 3rd-and-17, then connected with Taylor for 19 yards before finding Warren for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 20-3.

Herbert’s struggles continued. On 2nd-and-10 at the Colts’ 28, his pass was tipped and intercepted by defensive tackle Grover Stewart. Although the Chargers defense forced a three-and-out, Herbert threw another interception on the next drive — this time to safety Nick Cross — as Los Angeles squandered yet another scoring opportunity.

“I just can’t turn the ball over like that,” Herbert said. "We can’t expect to win games when I turn the ball over in the red zone like that.”

Michael Badgley’s 36-yard field goal gave Indianapolis a 23-3 halftime lead.

Coming out of halftime, the Chargers finally showed some urgency. Herbert hit Tetairoa McMillan Gadsden for a 53-yard catch-and-run, then found Quentin Johnston on 4th-and-5 for a 7-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 23-10.

Any momentum vanished on the ensuing kickoff when Ameer Abdullah returned it 60 yards to the Chargers’ 4-yard line. Two plays later, Taylor scored again from eight yards out — his second rushing touchdown — to put the Colts up 31-10.

Herbert responded with a strong drive, completing passes of 17, 12, 14, and 17 yards to Keenan Allen, Tre Harris, and Gadsden before connecting with Allen on a 4-yard touchdown. That cut the lead to 31-17, but Jones and the Colts offense had more left.

Jones hit Warren for 29 yards, then connected with Pittman and Pierce for 11 and 14, respectively, setting up Taylor’s third touchdown of the night — a 19-yard run to make it 38-17.

Herbert kept fighting, finding Gadsden for a 24-yard gain, then hitting Allen and Ladd McConkey for 11 and 15 yards. On 1st-and-goal from the 6, Herbert was sacked by UCLA product Laiatu Latu, but he bounced back with a 15-yard touchdown to Gadsden — the rookie’s first career score — to make it 38-24. He finished with seven catches for 164 yards and one touchdown.

But by then, the damage was done.

"Yeah, absolutely, no other way around it, man, played like shit, but gotta bounce back," Mack said. "Got an early game on Thursday, and so just gotta bounce back.”

The Chargers have now dropped three out of four games and sit at 4-3, tied with Kansas City for second place in the AFC West with Denver taking first place at 5-2 but trending in opposite directions. The only thing saving them for now is the divisional tiebreaker.

They’ll have little time to regroup before a Thursday night matchup against the 3-3 Minnesota Vikings — a short week that could define where this season goes next.