The 2026 season has pretty much been a total nightmare for the Indianapolis Colts. The team is 2-7 entering Sunday’s game against the lowly Miami Dolphins and in the second quarter cornerback Sauce Gardner got absolutely roasted by the CBS graphic team, presumably on accident.
The Dolphins employed a really nice trick play as the quarterback threw laterally to wide receiver Malik Washington and the Colts completely took the bait, moving up to try and make a tackle which allowed Jalen Tolbert to get wide open in the end zone for a very easy touchdown.
The Colts player who was really responsible for the Dolphins scoring was probably either safety Cam Bynum or safety A.J. Haulcy as they both allowed Tolbert to easily get over the top, but as Haulcy ran off the field CBS flashed a graphic that said “Touchdown Sauce Gardner” which made it seem like Gardner got torched so bad on the play that he deserved credit for the touchdown.
Ironically, if you watch the play Gardner is hardly even involved. He is on the far side of the field wearing No. 1 and really could not have had any sort of impact on the play even if he sprinted straight backwards towards the end zone right when the ball was snapped. You can see Gardner following Washington as he goes in motion to receive the lateral pass, but there was nothing he could have done.
Still, it just speaks to the way things have gone for the Colts this season and how bad the Gardner trade looks a year later. Indianapolis traded for Gardner last November ahead of the trade deadline and gave the New York Jets two first-round picks and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell in the trade.
Colts look foolish for the Sauce Gardner trade a year later
The Colts were the inverse of what they are this season as they were 7-2 and looked to be one of the better teams in the AFC. The hope was that the trade would take them to the next level and give them a shutdown corner, but that is not how it has worked out. Gardner was one of the best corners in the NFL his first two seasons in the league but has not been the same guy in recent years.
He still only has three career interceptions and does not have a pick with the Colts yet as his number of pass deflections has also gone down. That trade just looks worse and worse especially for a Colts team that is now very clearly in a state of quasi-rebuild after trading several players away in the last month.
Gardner may not have deserved that graphic for the trick play from Miami, but maybe whoever pressed the wrong button on the CBS graphic crew was in some way trying to remind Colts fans just how bad an idea it was to get Gardner for that much.
CBS Inadvertently Roasts Colts CB Sauce Gardner After Embarrassing TD