Colts Drop to 0-6 After Disappointing Loss to Bengals

It was yet another disappointing Sunday if you are an Indianapolis Colts fan. I predicted earlier in the week a 27-16 Bengals win and, unfortunately, I was almost right.

The Bengals fought off a fierce Colts rally to win, 27-17, and drop the Colts to an 0-6 record. This is Indianapolis' worst start since 1997.

The Colts defense got the game started great with a three-and-out on Cincy's first possession.

The Colts got the ball and after two big runs by Delone Carter, Dallas Clark fumbled and gave Cincinnati good field position inside the 50-yard line.

The Bengals capitalized on the turnover and scored on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Andy Dalton to A.J. Green. It was the fourth time this season the rookie combo hooked up for a touchdown.

The Colts and Bengals traded three-and-outs on their next possessions, but on the Colts third possession of the game, Donald Brown scored his first touchdown of the season on an 18-yard run to tie the game at seven.

Once again after the score, both teams traded three-and-outs.

The Bengals got the ball back to drive down the field before the half and had no problems until they got to the red zone.

The Colts stopped the Bengals on three straight plays and forced Mike Nugent to kick a 20-yard field goal going into the half.

Cincy led 10-7 going into the break.

The second half started off as the same old story for the Colts. Give up a lot of yards and gain little.

The Colts were forced to two straight three-and-outs to kick off the half while the Bengals scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by Cedric Benson. 

His second score of the season made it 17-7 on their first possession and Nugent nailed a 43-yard attempt to make it 20-7 after each teams' first two second-half possessions.

Normally, the Colts would have thrown in the towel this season, but they fought back today.

They scored a 46-yard field goal on their third possession to chip away at the lead and make it 20-10 and then forced the Bengals to a three-and-out on their third possession.

On their fourth second-half possession, the Colts made some big plays and drove down the field. 

After two questionable calls of having quarterback Curtis Painter try and sneak it in and getting stuffed at the goal line, the Colts ran a great play-action and Clark made an incredible one-handed catch in the end zone to bring the score to 20-17.

Once again the Colts forced the Bengals to a three-and-out and the game was in their hands.

They drove down the field, but a 52-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal was off and the Colts turned it over to the Bengals.

The Colts did a good job for the most part in holding the Bengals, but on third down, they gave up a 26-yard screen pass first down to running back Brian Leonard.

They ended up getting three straight stops and forced Nugent to kick a 43-yard field goal with 2:36 left in the game.

Nugent missed it wide right and the Colts once again had another chance.

The Colts blew it there.

On the first play from scrimmage, WR Pierre Garcon made a mistake by not just going down and tried to stretch the ball, but a Bengals player knocked it out and Carlos Dunlap ran the 36-yard fumble for a touchdown.

The play was reviewed, but there was no evidence to overturn the call. The Bengals now led 27-17.

After the kickoff, the Colts sealed their fate on the first play of the possession once again.

Painter was intercepted, for the first time in 115 passes, by Leon Hall and the game was over.

The Colts now need to made big decisions on getting this thing turned around. A record of 0-6 is unacceptable, especially when the games are so close.

The Colts will take their 0-6 record to New Orleans to take on a Super Bowl rematch from two years ago in Miami.