Coaching, o-line doom Colts in ugly loss

The good and the bad from the Indianapolis Colts' 31-13 divisional playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday:

THUMBS DOWN

The coaching

Frank Reich's offensive unit picked an awful day to recreate their struggles from Jacksonville a little over a month ago. A fourth-quarter dime of a touchdown from Andrew Luck to T.Y. Hilton softened the final score, but no matter in the long run: The Colts' offense was abysmal Saturday. The unit -- the best in football during the regular season on third downs -- went 0-for-9 at Arrowhead.

The Colts were outgained 433 yards to 263 and managed just 176 through the air. Put simply, they got nothing going.

Doyel:Colts' unraveling vs. Chiefs makes no sense

Insider:The Colts are right. They needed this loss.

Insider:Colts offensive line fails to live up to reputation in playoff loss to Chiefs

"We just came out slow," Hilton said. "We had too many three-and-outs to start off and they capitalized. They jumped out early 14-zip and we never got going."

On defense? A strong second half wasn't nearly enough to make up for an awful start. Matt Eberflus' unit looked utterly inept on the Chiefs' early possessions, allowing KC to build an early lead it would never relinquish.

The offensive line

A unit that steamrolled opponents most of the second half of the season was owned on Saturday. The Chiefs harassed Luck throughout, sacking him three times and batting down a number of his passes. Running back Marlon Mack never got going, and that was a huge reason the Colts' offense didn't either.

Adam Vinatieri

The greatest kicker of all-time, and the greatest bad-weather kicker of all-time, missed a 23-yard chip shot near the end of the first half and an extra point late in the game. If not for those mistakes, the margin would have been seven with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter.

Denico Autry

The defensive lineman was his usual productive self -- four tackles, a sack, three QB hits -- but his unnecessary showboating after a fourth-down stop in the second half, the Colts trailing 24-7, earned a 15-yard penalty. 

Penalties

Speaking of penalties, the Colts finished with 10 for 70 yards Saturday, six of which were the pre-snap variety. The flags killed the Colts.

THUMBS UP

Kenny Moore

A performance emblematic of his excellent sophomore season, the Colts' gritty cornerback caused headaches for Kansas City's offense all game long. He finished with 12 tackles, two sacks and a blocked pass.

Najee Goode

His first-half blocked punt gave the Colts their first points of the day.