Sauce Gardner, Colts own ‘unacceptable’…

Sauce Gardner did the hard part, running step for step 40 yards downfield with Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ryan Flournoy late in the fourth quarter.

But as Dak Prescott’s pass sailed toward them, Gardner didn’t get his head around, instead opting to try to play through Flournoy’s hands to knock the ball out. The strategy didn’t work, as Flournoy hauled in Prescott’s deep shot for a 46-yard gain with just under 90 seconds left as the Colts held a three-point lead.

“That’s unacceptable,” Gardner said. “I gotta be better. I gotta make the play, no matter what plays I made before that. At the end of the day, that’s when my best is required.”

Dallas punched in a go-ahead touchdown with 1:10 left in the fourth quarter, which ultimately became the game-winner to send the Colts to their fifth consecutive loss, 27-23.

Up to that point in the game, Gardner had allowed just two receptions on four targets for 11 yards, per Pro Football Focus. He broke up a pass and then tackled wideout CeeDee Lamb for a short gain on consecutive plays earlier in the fourth quarter, which ultimately forced a punt that led to the Colts responding with a game-tying field goal.

But for Gardner, allowing Flournoy’s catch overshadowed everything he did over the first 59 minutes of Week 9.

“One game-changing play is the main thing that mattered,” Gardner said. “That negates everything that happened before that play.”

Gardner wasn’t the only Colts player who owned a critical miscue in the second half. Wide receiver Josh Downs had two dropped passes, including one on a third-and-eight with 1:45 left in the fourth quarter, which preceded a go-ahead Spencer Shrader field goal.

“We were trying to win the game there,” head coach Shane Steichen said.

Downs finished the day with three catches on six targets for 24 yards. He said his focus last week didn’t waver even amid a trade request and persistent rumors.

“I stunk today,” Downs said. “… I wasn’t distracted. I just stunk today.”

Running back Jonathan Taylor lost a fumble about five minutes into the fourth quarter, too. After the Colts got three big breaks – a Lamb fumble, a 40-yard pass interference flag drawn by wide receiver Deion Burks and a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Dallas – they had the ball on first-and-10 at the Cowboys’ 18-yard line. With the score 20-17 Dallas, Taylor had the ball knocked out by Cowboys defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.

The Cowboys recovered the fumble, and the Colts’ chance to take the lead – or at least tie the game – evaporated.

“No matter what happens, I gotta make sure if it touches my body, if it touches my hands, I gotta try to clamp down on it immediately,” Taylor said. “It doesn’t matter if there’s a free runner or not. That’s on me. I just gotta make sure no matter what, if it touches my hand, I gotta find a way to just clamp down on it, go down and not make a bad play worse.”

We’ll see where things go for the Colts in the next 48 hours leading up to Tuesday’s 4 p.m. trade deadline. The composition of this team could look different in a few days – or it could stay the same.

In the aftermath of another defeat, though, those trade rumors were acknowledged but weren’t used as an excuse for Sunday’s loss. But at the same time, this team is ready to get some answers on who, if anyone, will follow Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner out the door via a trade.

“It’s hard to say,” Steichen said when asked if trade rumors had impacted his players. “I mean, it is a real thing. I’m not going to deny that. Maybe it affects some guys more than others. But obviously, we’ve got until Tuesday now, and then we go from there. And once that’s done, it’s done.”

“The hay’s in the barn,” Taylor added. “Now we just play the waiting game.”