5 Things Learned: Colts Pathetic In Loss To Packers

1. 0-2 Hole Is Here

0-2 Hole Is Here: Want some optimism? Last year’s AFC South champion lost their first two games of the season. The Colts will try to channel their own franchise magic from a decade ago, too, in starting 0-2 and still making the playoffs (which the Colts did in 2014, also the last time they won the division). Starting with optimism like that feels a little messy after such a pathetic Week 2 performance, on both sides of the ball. An 0-2 start for Shane Steichen and company wasn’t a crazy thought when the schedule came out in May. But that schedule didn’t have Malik Willis, who has been with the Packers for 19 days, as the Green Bay starting quarterback. No matter if the first two weeks had playoff teams from last year in Houston and Green Bay, this 0-2 start puts the Colts well behind the 8-ball as they try to climb out of it. Home games against rookie Caleb Williams and Justin Fields seem manageable upcoming, but an early season hole like this starts to shrink margin for error. Add Willis to the list of backup quarterbacks we saw beat the Colts last season (P.J. Walker, Jake Browning and Taylor Heinicke). And this is easily the most embarrassing of the 4, given Willis has been a Packer for 19 days and hasn’t shown an ounce of prior competence in the NFL. The Colts defense was unable to put Willis into many (any?) stressful passing situations. Turnover worthy moments that backup/inexperienced quarterbacks usually gravitate towards was nowhere to be found. One would think player and coach continuity should lead to a strong start to the season, compared to a Green Bay team starting a QB who has been there for 19 days or having a new defensive coordinator. Any questioning of key Colts personnel, Chris Ballard, Shane Steichen and Gus Bradley are all extremely fair as the Colts return home in Week 3.

2. Another Puzzling Jonathan Taylor Personnel Decision

Another Puzzling Jonathan Taylor Personnel Decision: A head-scratching decision to have Jonathan Taylor on the bench happened again on Sunday for the Colts. As the Colts closed out the 3^rd quarter, they were putting together their best drive of the afternoon, with Taylor starting to really slice his way through the Packers defense (Taylor went over 100 rushing yards late in the 3^rd quarter). Following the quarter break though, the Colts had Taylor on the bench, opting to have Trey Sermon lined up behind Anthony Richardson on a 3^rd-and-1. A speed option with Richardson and Sermon (the slowest running back on the team) was the call, and play was blown up for a loss of four as the QB pitched to the seldom used backup, who bobbled the ball before getting smoked for a big loss. Back to 4^th-and-5, the Colts now had to settle for 50-yard field goal attempt, which Matt Gay missed to the left (like he did on more than one occasion in the preseason). The decision by Steichen to have Taylor on the bench for a monumental play, with the Colts potentially in line to cut the deficit to 3, was eerily reminiscent of the 4^th-and-1 call to end last season with the Texans. What a time for Sermon’s first carry of the season, who has had ball security struggles before. Even if Taylor was hurt (FOX reported no injury), such a play call increases the chances for a negative play, therefore hurting the chances to either go for it on 4^th down, or force Gay into a longer field goal attempt. There’s a lot about Steichen’s coaching Colts fans should like, but these decisions can’t become the norm.

3. Run Defense Responds Pitifully

Run Defense Responds Pitifully: So, that’s how the Colts responded to one of their worst rushing performance in years? By giving up 237 first-half rushing yards, the 3^rd most an NFL team has allowed since 2000. And unlike last week, the excuse of “defending the pass first” can’t apply when facing Malik Willis. If Joe Mixon and Josh Jacobs got the 2024 Colts defense every week, they’d be first ballot into Canton one day. Did the Colts have some serious insult to injury on Sunday, too? Do everything defensive tackle DeForest Buckner had his lower right leg/ankle bent severely and awkwardly late in the 3^rd quarter. Buckner needed help getting off the field and did not return on Sunday, as he was later carted off. While Buckner has never missed a game due to injury in his 5 seasons with the Colts, we’ve yet to see him deal with this ugly looking of an injury. Last week, third-year defensive coordinator Gus Bradley fielded questions about him being on the hot seat. Certainly, that’s never a ringing endorsement after the first game of the season. Such questions seem quite valid though after seeing what happened on Sunday. Given the Colts staunch backing of Bradley, from both Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen, it’s hard to imagine such a move happening at this point of the season. But bringing up the topic has ample merit. Again, this is a defense that returned all 11 starters, took the first defensive player in the draft and had a veteran coordinator going into his third season with the team. The 28^th ranked scoring defense from last season (and the year before that) doubled down on believing that in-house improvements would be there. Whether it’s the predictable lack of playmaking from an inexperienced secondary or the surprising lack of run defense early on, the Colts defense has failed mightily to start 2024.

4. Anthony Richardson Struggles In Road Atmosphere:

Anthony Richardson Struggles In Road Atmosphere: Playing his first ever NFL game outdoors, Anthony Richardson had some obvious struggles in the road environment. And like we saw in the preseason dress rehearsal against the Bengals, Richardson didn’t get much help from the others around him offensively, especially the pass catchers. Whether Richardson felt the need to press a bit down 10-0 early, he took an unnecessary 1^st down deep shot in the first quarter into coverage, with the airmail getting picked off. And then later in the game, Richardson made a really poor read to throw another interception. Simply, Richardson looked like a young QB in his second road start, especially when his greatest asset (the big playmaking) is taken away. While the Colts defense will deservedly receive a ton of blame from the start of this season, don’t absolve the Colts offense from Sunday. They had just 1 play on the Green Bay side of the field in the opening half, and that was Richardson’s interception. They scored 10 points to a Green Bay team that allowed 34 in Week 1. Green Bay showed on Sunday that if you can take away the explosive playmaking of Anthony Richardson, this offense is not a given to move down the field in a more methodical manner. Some of that is on Richardson. And some of that is on the others around the QB, as we saw both evident on Sunday.

5. Where Are The Reliables?

Where Are The Reliables? Whether you label these Colts as “reliables” or not, the likes of Quenton Nelson, Kenny Moore II, Michael Pittman Jr. and Matt Gay are paid to be that. And the Colts organization certainly believes their trenches are that, too. All of them deserve blame for a really pathetic performance in Week 2. For an organization that prides itself on the trenches, having invested immensely there, this 0-2 start is a failure of Chris Ballard’s 8-year building, on down. Moore II missed multiple tackles on Sunday, and had an opportunity for a big third-down stop early on, that ended in a Green Bay touchdown. Nelson had two costly penalties. MPJ hasn’t looked like a No. 1 wideout early on. And Gay’s long distance field goal struggles didn’t go away, as he missed a 50-yarder wide left, which is where he missed multiple pre-season field goals. By the Colts hardly touching any part of their roster this offseason, the organization stated their belief in so much of what they are returning from 2023. It’s fair to throw the pass catching group into this category of belief from the Colts, with several drops of catchable balls on Sunday, too. Players, coaches, etc. So far, those results are lacking with hardly any positives to point to through 120 minutes of football. Be grateful for the AFC South, but the Texans could put themselves into an early position to pull away rather quickly from reset of the divisional bunch.

6. QUICK HITTERS

–Injury Report: The following Colts were inactive on Sunday: S-Julian Blackmon (shoulder), WR-Josh Downs (ankle), OL-Tanor Bortolini, TE-Will Mallory, DE-Genard Avery, RT-Blake Freeland. The following players got injured and did not return: DT-DeForest Buckner (ankle), DE-Laiatu Latu (hip)

-Key Stat: The Colts gave up 234 rushing yards in Sunday’s first half. That’s the 3^rd most an NFL team has allowed since 2000.

-What’s Next: The Colts (0-2) return home in Week Three, playing the Chicago Bears (1-0) in a Sunday afternoon contest.