Stephen Holder

stephen.holder@indystar.com

INDIANAPOLIS – Halfway through their wretched 2016 season, the Indianapolis Colts are still offering the same hollow answers after predictable losses.

We beat ourselves, they say. We’ll get it fixed, they vow. This isn’t who we are, they argue.

But it's at the point in the NFL season where teams are clearly separating themselves. There's no need for eight more games to see the Cleveland Browns are on a road to nowhere. There's no need for another eight games to see the New England Patriots are contenders.

So, why would eight more games be needed to confirm our suspicions about the Colts?

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Tell us, D’Qwell Jackson.

“This is who we are,” the inside linebacker admitted after the Colts fell to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. “If it isn’t more clear by now that this is who we are, then I don’t know what to say. The question is, how do we get out of it? But if this is who we are, this is the outcome we’re going to get. We’re going to have a below-.500 record.”

Who, exactly, are these Colts?

The only people asking that question are those who haven’t personally witnessed the football atrocities they continue to commit. But in the unlikely event you just arrived from Mars, they include: dropped passes, missed assignments, ill-timed penalties and other assorted comical mistakes.

Those are the things that have defined this season for the 3-5 Colts. But this 30-14 loss to the Chiefs was arguably the best example to date of the Colts self-destructing.

Even the one guy who hadn’t consistently shown the error-prone tendencies of his teammates caught the bug Sunday. Quarterback Andrew Luck had one of his poorest games of the season, fumbling a shotgun snap, throwing an interception and missing several wide-open receivers.

Exasperation was evident in his tone and on his face afterward. And not just with himself, but with the reality that Jackson described.

“Right now, it feels like we’ve moved backwards this weekend,” Luck said. “It feels like we were making progress and then we step backward and we’re sick of it. It’s on us. No one else to blame.

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“It’s on us.”

Another reason this game was the most vivid example of the Colts’ 2016 identity is that the contrast with the Chiefs was so stark.

Kansas City lost its starting quarterback (twice), was missing injured franchise running back Jamaal Charles, then lost its top backup running back (Spencer Ware) and starting left guard (Parker Ehinger) during the game. And what happened?

Nothing, basically.

See, the Chiefs are a team whose sum is greater than its parts. Granted, top wideout T.Y. Hilton was in and out with a hamstring strain for the Colts, and right tackle Joe Reitz and cornerback Vontae Davis suffered concussions and left the game. But even with a star like Luck, and with receiver Donte Moncrief back in the lineup, the Colts could barely sustain drives, going 4-of-13 on third downs.

The offensive line was at its worst. Luck had his own issues, sure, but they were compounded by unsightly pass protection. The Colts tied a season high, allowing six sacks. Chiefs edge rusher Dee Ford dominated the Colts’ tackles, registering 3½ sacks. But the pressure came from every possible angle, including the interior. The Chiefs finished with a stunning 12 quarterback hits.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs, with quarterback Alex Smith leaving the game on two occasions due to possible concussions, seamlessly transitioned to backup Nick Foles and accumulated 422 total yards. They had six pass completions of 20 yards or longer, including passes of 33, 34 and 49 yards.

The Chiefs were the anti-Colts.

“The way I look at football is there’s a lot of parity around the league, right?” Jackson explained. “You have some guys who are exceptional, but for the most part everybody’s pretty even. So, when it comes down to it, the teams that are good in the turnover ratio, the teams that are most efficient, they don’t have to be as glamorous. They don’t have to play pretty football. But they win.

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“That plays a part, a big part. If you look around, with all the talent that we have, what’s been the common denominator? It’s us shooting ourselves in the foot. If we don’t do those things, who knows?”

Yes, who knows? Truth is, we might never know. Because the Colts clearly can’t change who they are.

Not everyone agrees this is their identity.

“This is not who we are,” left tackle Anthony Castonzo said.

Yet so much evidence points to the opposite being true. Specifically, the eight games they've played that reinforce this reality:

This is who the Colts are.

Follow IndyStar reporter Stephen Holder on Twitter: @HolderStephen.