INDIANAPOLIS – Alec Pierce leaped to make a contested catch with seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and came down with a touchdown reception that triggered the confetti cannons, fireworks and streamers built into the roof of Lucas Oil Stadium.

By that point, however, the stands were maybe one-third full and most of the observers still in attendance supported the visiting Buffalo Bills.

It was a poignant tableau on a day that saw the Indianapolis Colts lose their third straight game – by a count of 30-20 after Pierce’s late TD – and the home fans repeatedly express their displeasure with the state of the franchise by raining boos onto the field.

At least one team captain understands the sentiment.

“I don’t think everybody’s working as hard as possible, and obviously it’s showing,” cornerback Kenny Moore II said after hauling in his first interception of the season in the third quarter and the 18th of his eight-year career. “I’m not the type to sugar coat it. Honestly, I don’t think the urgency’s there. I don’t think the details are there.

“I don’t think the effort is there, and I don’t see everything correlating from meetings to practice to the games. And it shows.”

Indianapolis stands at 4-6 overall and remains within striking distance of a playoff berth after the Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos also suffered defeat this week.

But the franchise is at its bleakest point since the disastrous 2022 collapse.

Joe Flacco – the 39-year-old veteran elevated to the starting quarterback role last week to end the Colts’ four-year playoff drought – has produced two offensive touchdowns, turned the ball over six times and absorbed seven sacks in his last two starts.

Anthony Richardson – the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft hailed as the future of the franchise – can’t even get back on the field in the type of short-yardage situations he’s custom built for.

And the stadium was nearly half full of Buffalo fans, who not only loudly cheered their side’s success but were numerous enough to be prompted by Bills defenders to make significant noise on crucial third- and fourth-down snaps.

The home fans often were unable to respond with anything but their own dissatisfaction.

“I mean, shoot, we’ve got to give them something to cheer about,” Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said. “Obviously, we’re not moving the ball. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to go back and freaking get it cleaned up.

“(We’ve) got a lot of football left. Obviously, (we’ve) got a big one coming up (next week) against the (New York) Jets. So we’ll get it cleaned up tomorrow, come back into work and that’s what we’ve got to do.”

The corrections this week begin with turnovers.

Flacco was responsible for four of them, throwing three interceptions and losing a fumble on a strip-sack near midfield.

The miscues began on the opening offensive play, when a pass intended for wide receiver Josh Downs was intercepted by Buffalo cornerback Taron Johnson and returned 23 yards for the game’s first touchdown.

Flacco also was picked off on the ensuing drive. This time a short pass to the right intended for running back Jonathan Taylor was intercepted by defensive tackle Austin Johnson and returned 4 yards to Buffalo’s 47-yard line.

That set up a 29-yard field goal by Tyler Bass and gave the Bills (8-2) a 10-0 lead before 10 minutes had elapsed.

“Today, it was just turnovers mostly,” Flacco said of the offensive woes. “There were times when we could kind of get going, and we’d just turn the ball over.”

The Colts’ desultory start continued on the next drive when Downs dropped a potential touchdown pass on second-and-goal at the Bills’ 9-yard line.

But Matt Gay got Indianapolis on the board with a 27-yard field goal, and the home team suddenly sprung to life.

Linebacker Zaire Franklin broke up a fourth-down pass at Buffalo’s 28-yard line, and the Colts responded with their best drive of the game.

An 11-play, 72-yard march ended with Flacco’s 2-yard touchdown pass to running back Tyler Goodson, and the score was improbably tied.

After Allen was intercepted by linebacker E.J. Speed on the next possession, Indianapolis took its only lead — 13-10 — on a 23-yard field goal by Gay with 6:32 remaining in the half.

The Bills narrowly avoided disaster on the ensuing kickoff when recently re-signed Indianapolis safety Ronnie Harrison forced a fumble. But Buffalo recovered and then drove 70 yards for a touchdown on a 13-yard run by Allen.

That was the start of a 20-0 run that put the game away for the visitors.

Moore said the Colts’ recent losses have had an all-too-familiar feel.

“(W)e are in November, and I just don’t see us making that jump,” he said. “From September to November, I’m seeing the same thing. So I think (it’s) a lot of things. We’ve just gotta start addressing it and not sugar coat or beat around the bush. I think that’s what we are lacking, and honestly it’s just – year to year, it’s the same thing.”

Buffalo’s top two receivers – Amari Cooper and Keon Coleman – missed the game with wrist injuries, and the Bills’ offense often suffered its own struggles.

Allen finished 22-of-37 for 280 yards but didn’t throw a touchdown pass and was intercepted twice.

The quarterback did rush eight times for 50 yards and a touchdown, and Buffalo produced 135 yards and two scores on 31 carries overall.

Flacco was 26-of-35 for 272 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions, and he was sacked four times.

The run game produced 5.5 yards per carry on 22 attempts, but Taylor finished with 114 yards on 21 carries after rushing for 107 yards in the first half.

The Colts received the second-half kickoff trailing 20-13 after Bass ended the second quarter with a 47-yard field goal, but Taylor got just five rushing attempts after intermission.

Buffalo didn’t take a two-score lead until Bass hit a 28-yard field goal to make it 23-13 with 10:58 left in the final period.

James Cook’s 2-yard touchdown run with 3:04 remaining, punctuated with a flip over the goal line, put the final nail in the home team’s coffin.

“Give (the Bills) credit,” Steichen said. “Shoot, that’s a good football team, but we have to be better.”

There are seven games remaining in the regular season, but Indianapolis is running out of time to turn things around.

The switch to Flacco signaled the franchise is in a win-now mode, and the wins have to start coming soon.

“You’ve gotta define yourself,” Moore said. “You’ve gotta define the identity of the team. We gotta look ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves how bad we want it.”