INDIANAPOLIS – The month of October arrives for the Colts (1-2-1) with their Thursday night contest of the year here.
It’ll be a trip to Denver (2-2) for an 8:15 PM kickoff in Week Five.
Here are the takeaways from the Colts getting back to work on Monday:
- The Colts will not have LB-Shaquille Leonard (concussion) for Thursday night in Denver as he is in the concussion protocol following a hit from teammate Zaire Franklin on Sunday. Along with Leonard, DL-Tyquan Lewis reported concussion-like symptoms following Sunday’s game, so the versatile defensive lineman will be out, too.
- Monday’s Jonathan Taylor (ankle) update was not much. Frank Reich said he had yet to talk to Taylor on Monday and that the Colts will need a day or so to further evaluate the injury. Taylor has yet to miss a game due to injury in the NFL. Taylor missed last Wednesday’s practice due to a toe injury suffered in the Kansas City game. If Taylor can’t go, Reich said the Colts could certainly call-up veteran Philip Lindsay from the practice squad. Lindsay, who had two 1,000-yard seasons in Denver, has ample experience in the NFL. Nyheim Hines and Deon Jackson are the two running backs on the 53-man roster.
- Speaking of running backs, what is the state of the Colts run game right now? At one point in the second half on Sunday, Frank Reich looked at offensive coordinator Marcus Brady and said, ‘We might have to throw it on every down.’ That’s saying something when you are facing the 32nd ranked run defense, which Tennessee entered Sunday at.
- Offensive futility is alive and well right now in the Colts organization. The Colts have scored 20 or fewer points in 6 straight games. It’s the longest such streak in the Frank Reich era. If the Colts don’t score more than 20 on Thursday, that 7-game stretch would tie the longest such span of 20 points or less for the franchise since the 1993 season. The Colts rank dead last in the NFL at 14.3 points scored per game.
- What is making matters even worse for the offense is how the Colts are ending drives. They have 9 turnovers this year (New Orleans is the only team with more giveaways at 11). Matt Ryan has 8 of those 9 turnovers. This poor Colts offense isn’t ending drives by punting the ball away, thus maintaining some field position. These giveaways have put the Indy defense in some awful sudden change situations in needing to defend short fields.
- With Lewis out, any continued pitch count for DeForest Buckner will be stressed even more this week. Buckner played 19-of-54 snaps on Sunday due to his injured elbow. He didn’t record a tackle, with the focus his snap count centered around third down and the red zone. With Buckner limited, it was Lewis seeing his playing time rise. He played 40 snaps on Sunday, the second most of any Colts defensive lineman. So the defensive tackle depth will once again feel some testing on Thursday night.
- It’s a week full of walk-throughs for the Colts as they get ready for their lone Thursday night contest of the year. The Colts will head to Denver on Wednesday to play on TNF, on Amazon Prime, and locally on the ABC affiliate in Indianapolis, at 8:15 PM.
