NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- There was no message that needed to be said. It wasn't necessary for coach Chuck Pagano to fill his team's ears with his favorite clichés.
The Colts knew they couldn’t board the bus at Nissan Stadium for their flight back home to Indianapolis with their fifth loss of the season in tow. Their goal of winning the AFC South and getting an automatic playoff spot would have been severely hampered with a loss.
Indianapolis did its part by beating the Tennessee Titans, and a Houston loss to Denver on Monday night will move the Colts back to within a game of the Texans in the division.
The Colts are about to start a stretch where they play three of their next four games against teams that currently have a winning record, starting with Kansas City at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Oct. 30.
“That wasn’t even a secret,” Colts defensive lineman Kendall Langford said. “We drop this one [against Tennessee] and we all know what it would have been. You’re suddenly hoping and praying that other teams lose. You’re worrying about what you have to do while also scoreboard watching. We’re tired of the ups and downs. We have to learn to stack these wins."
There was a major sigh of relief inside the Colts' locker room after the game.
All seven of the Colts' games have been decided in the final four minutes. And unfortunately for the Colts, they’ve been on the short end of the close games four times.
That’s why they needed Sunday's victory no matter how it came about.
“By any means necessary,” safety Mike Adams said. “Things would have been bleak for us had we not won.”
Quarterback Andrew Luck rightfully was the headliner in the victory after he threw for 357 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. But what may have gone unnoticed was how the defense bounced back from one of its worst series, when they essentially gave the Titans a touchdown by giving up first downs on third-and-15 and third-and-19 and being called for three penalties for 34 yards. That allowed Tennessee to tie the game 20-20 early in the fourth quarter.
The Titans would take a 23-20 advantage before the Colts answered and regained the lead, 27-23, after a 70-yard drive.
Then, on the Titans' next play from scrimmage, defensive lineman T.Y. McGill forced quarterback Marcus Mariota to fumble, and linebacker Robert Mathis scooped up the loose ball and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown that essentially sealed the deal with 1:47 to play.
That was the complete opposite from Week 1, when the Colts gave up the lead to the Lions in the final 37 seconds, and in Week 6, when they completely collapsed in the final three minutes, coughing up a 14-point lead against Houston.
Were the Colts perfect against the Titans?
They were far from it and they still have a lot of work ahead of them. The Colts committed 12 penalties for 131 yards, which was the third-most penalty yards in franchise history. Luck's receivers also had five drops.
But when you consider how things have gone so far this season for the Colts, they’ll take a victory any way they can get it and hope to improve going forward. Things will not get any easier.
"We can make things a heck of a lot easier on ourselves obviously, if we just get some things cleaned up, and we have to do it," Pagano said. "We have no choice. It doesn’t get any easier, we know that.
"It’s great to get a win. It’s a whole different feeling, it’s a whole different world, whole different locker room. We will use that. We will have to be smart. Success is just as hard to handle as defeat. We will handle it appropriately."