For the majority of Monday night’s game, Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich was showing just why he’s considered one of the brightest offensive minds in the league—even if he doesn’t always show it.

The Colts offense was humming against a Ravens defense that was doing everything they could to apply pressure on a patchwork offensive line. It even worked for the Ravens a bit throughout the game, but Reich seemed to bounce back with innovative and aggressive play calls to put the Colts in a position to pull off an upset on the road.

However, Reich’s mostly strong game will be overshadowed by a conservative call when it mattered most. When it came time to put the game away with a quarterback he says he fully trusts, Reich decided to play it safe. He decided to play for the field goal instead of going for the jugular.

“That was a conservative call,” Reich said. “We were running the ball well, they were burning their timeouts, so I felt good about that,” Reich told reporters following the game. “In hindsight, because it didn’t work, do I wish I would’ve called a pass? Probably. The reason I didn’t, I knew they were pressuring. I didn’t wanna get sacked. I didn’t want anything crazy to happen. I felt good about the opportunity to gain some yards and get the kick.”

Leading 25-17 with just over five minutes left in regulation, the Colts faced a third-and-eight at the Ravens 15-yard line. Baltimore had already burned through two of their timeouts. This is the chance to put the game away with the quarterback who was enjoying a career game in the stat sheet.

Reich played it safe and called for a run, which went for a four-yard loss. He then trotted out his injured kicker for a 37-yard field-goal attempt after having missed an extra-point attempt earlier in the game.

Veteran defensive end Calais Campbell bursted through the offensive line to block the attempt. The Ravens sliced easily through a Colts defense that was playing softly by this point in the game.

The blame doesn’t solely deserve to be on Reich. He was having the best game of his season and potentially one of the best of his career since becoming the head coach of the Colts. The defense also gave up 16 points in the final 12 minutes of the game.

And to be fair to Reich—as good as Wentz was—it is apparent the quarterback continues to struggle with pre-snap recognition and setting the right protection to counter a blitz.

But that’s the time to take a shot with a chance to bury a true Super Bowl contending team on the road in prime time.

They let that chance evaporate, though, and what looked to be a season-changing victory turned out to be yet another chapter in a book of late-game crumbles for the Colts.

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