The Colts' list was what the preview expected and then some. Tyler Warren never got to game-time decision; he was inactive with the groin. Then the game added to the list: Sauce Gardner (calf) and punter Rigoberto Sanchez (foot) were both questionable to return, and Anthony Gould left with a concussion and was ruled out. On Tennessee's side, Tyjae Spears was active after the questionable tag and Tony Adams went down with an ankle. Losing a corner and a punter in the middle of a game like this matters more as it goes on, and in this one everything happened late.
Indy did the hard part. The Colts ran up 399 total yards and 24 first downs, compared with 186 yards and 11 first downs for Tennessee. That's a game you win by 2 scores almost every time. Indy lost it because it turned the ball over 3 times and Tennessee turned it over once, and because 13-6 heading into the fourth quarter was nowhere near enough of a cushion.
Look at the line score and the problem jumps out. The Colts scored 13 in the second quarter, 0 in the third and 7 in the fourth. The Titans scored 6 in the third and 20 in the fourth. That's how you win a game while getting outgained by more than 200 yards: you finish the drives you get, and the other team doesn't. For a Tennessee offense that had 58 points in its first 5 games, putting up 20 in one quarter is the most it has done all season.
The preview's test for Indianapolis was whether the run game would show up after Jonathan Taylor's 15 carries for 45 yards in Pittsburgh. It did. The Colts ran for 165 yards on 30 carries against a Titans front missing Jordan Elliott, which is exactly the formula the preview laid out. It just didn't turn into points. The underneath role Warren usually plays went to the depth guys, and 399 yards with 3 giveaways is a lesson in how fast a good day gets thrown away.
Tennessee's own run game was modest, 84 yards on 23 carries. The receivers the preview named, Calvin Ridley, Wan'Dale Robinson and Carnell Tate, didn't have much passing volume to work with. The defense won this game, and the timing of the stops did too. The preview pointed out that Tennessee had stayed close in losses to Philadelphia and Baltimore but never scored enough to finish. This time it finished.
Indianapolis drops to 2-4 with back-to-back losses, and it's harder to explain than the Pittsburgh game. Then the defense gave up 34. Here the defense held the Titans to 186 yards and still lost. Tennessee takes its first win back from a division road game and gets a week where the 3-point Houston loss is no longer the latest result.