The Colts kept the Browns offense from scoring points for most of the second half of Sunday’s game, but Cleveland’s lead never dropped below six points.
Mistakes by the Colts had a lot to do with that. Browns safety Ronnie Harrison returned an interception for a touchdown, safety Sheldrick Redwine had another pick and the Colts handed the Browns two points on a safety that was the result of an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone.
Colts quarterback Philip Rivers had a hand in all three plays and the miscues were reminiscent of what went wrong for the veteran during his final season with the Chargers. Head coach Frank Reich took the blame for the play call on the safety, however, and complimented Rivers’ overall play.
“Yes, Philip is playing really good football,” Reich said, via Kevin Bowen of 107.5 The Fan. “That is the least of my worries. That is the least of my worries. Philip is playing good football. You are going to have mistakes when you get in situations like that. I know we would want the interception back, but the safety, like I said, is on me. You take that away and you get that one mistake, in my mind, that was the big factor. [The safety] was not the big factor, but the one big mistake with Philip was the interception. That is it.”
Rivers’ biggest numbers of the season came in a Week One loss to the Jaguars, but he’d played efficient and largely mistake-free football during the three-game winning streak that ended in Cleveland. The Colts will need that Rivers back if they’re going to stack together a few more wins.