The Indianapolis Colts will be one wide receiver short for their potential playoff-deciding matchup against the Tennessee Titans.
Deep-ball threat Alec Pierce will miss the contest, officially being downgraded to out on Friday, according to NFL insider Adam Schefter.
“Colts ruled out WR Alec Pierce for Sunday’s game vs. the Titans,” Schefter reported on X.
Pierce practiced this week in a red non-contact jersey, but could not pass the NFL‘s concussion protocol on Friday for Sunday’s action.
Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs are listed ahead of Pierce on the depth chart with Adonai Mitchell looking to see increased snaps
However, despite Pierce having three catches in his last three games, he is the team leader in receiving yards with 645 total through 14 games.
This Indianapolis passing attack has gravely struggled with quarterback Anthony Richardson. It ranks No. 27 overall in yardage and dead last in completions.
Richardson and Pittman Jr., who looked to be an emerging star with his second 1,000-yard season in 2023, can’t quite build a stable rapport. Pittman Jr. took a steep fall from tallying 72 yards in last year to 46.8 this season.
Heading into Sunday’s dance with the Titans, Indianapolis is three games out of first place in the AFC South. Its path to the playoffs is already tight, but it became more narrow with the Los Angeles Chargers victory against the Denver Broncos on Thursday night.
According to the New York Times, the Colts own a nine percent chance of getting in at this point. This possibility would require the Colts to win out against the Titans, New York Giants, and Jacksonville Jaguars, which is still plausible considering the lowly state of all three of those teams.
But the Chargers or Broncos would also have to lose out in their final two games. There is a third scenario where in addition to the Colts winning out, the Miami Dolphins do so as well, creating a three-way tie of the Colts, Broncos, and Cincinnati Bengals/Dolphins in which the Colts win the tiebreaker.
