Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Taking a look at the top needs for the Colts entering the 2024 offseason.
With the 2023 season officially over for the Indianapolis Colts, they are officially in offseason mode.
As 2024 begins, Indianapolis will look to add to its roster and strengthen some perceived weaknesses through free agency, trades and the NFL draft.
With that being said, here are some of the top needs for Indianapolis moving forward:
Gus Bradley is expected back for 2024.
Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley is expected to return to his current role for the 2024 season.
Though there was some speculation that the Colts may part ways with Bradley considering the up-and-down season from his defensive unit, general manager Chris Ballard made it pretty clear during his end-of-season press conference that Bradley will remain under contract.
#Colts GM Chris Ballard says he expects DC Gus Bradley to be back next season.
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) January 11, 2024
The defensive season certainly had its ups and downs. The scheme was pretty straightforward as well. Bradley’s scheme was mostly Cover-3 with some quarters (Cover-4) and Cover-1 mixed in. He also rarely disguised his coverages pre-snap.
According to Cody Alexander, Bradley’s scheme used disguised coverage near the lowest rate in the NFL.
NFL MOF Disguise Rates Heading Into Week 18
Static: Texans, Jets, Giants, Colts
Disguise: Rams, Panthers, Dolphins (Fangio)#ArtofX pic.twitter.com/mgayEoCfmV
— Cody Alexander (@The_Coach_A) January 7, 2024
Essentially, this tells us Bradley was using the same coverages the majority of the time while rarely using any pre-snap disguises to confuse the opposing offenses.
Bradley has never been one to disguise his coverages. That’s simply not a part of his scheme and philosophy. It also was partly due to the fact that the Colts trotted out such a young and inexperienced secondary.
Ballard came to Bradley’s defense a bit during his press conference this week while still acknowledging the failures of the unit.
“Look, it’s an area we have to improve. In a little bit of defense, the year before he comes in and we kind of had – I don’t want to say a veteran team, but we had some veteran players,” Ballard said. “Then I just said look, we’re going to go young in some spots. We went young in the secondary and look, there were some rough moments at times in the secondary and I don’t completely put that on them. I put that more on me, but how do you ever develop any continuity, especially with your own guys if you don’t just play them? So I decided to go young. We took our lumps, took our lumps at times but I think it’s going to pay off down the line for them.”
Ballard also admitted the points-per-game mark is an area that certainly needs to improve.
“The points do need to come down. We’ll continue to have long discussions about where we’re going and how we’ll get that done. But saying that, we had new starters on defense. We did do some good things too. We got after the passer pretty good. I think it’s got to be a little better but 51 sacks is pretty good,” Ballard said. “Took the ball away, we need to be a little better there in that area and we have to take away the explosives. But I would expect us to take another jump here this year on defense.”
The Colts defense allowed 24.4 points per game in 2023, which ranked as the fifth-most in the NFL, just ahead of the Denver Broncos (24.3) and just behind the Carolina Panthers (24.5).
The unit did rank 11th on third-down percentage (37.08%) and eighth in sacks per pass attempt (8.98%). However, the defense also ranked 24th in total yards per game (349.8), 24th in rushing yards per game (123.8), 25th in first downs per game (20.4) and 30th on fourth-down percentage (65.38%).
Bradley’s defense ranked middle of the pack in areas like total yards per play (16th), passing yards per game (16th), red-zone percentage (18th) and goal-to-go percentage (16th).
Going into Year 3 in Bradley’s scheme, the Colts will need to add some depth to the secondary and some competition to the interior defensive tackle positions.
Regardless, it appears the Colts are sticking by Bradley one way or another for the upcoming season.
[lawrence-related id=93519,93524,93520]
Some notes from Anthony Richardson’s press conference on Thursday.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson met with the media Thursday, touching on a few topics for the first time since he underwent surgery to repair a season-ending shoulder injury.
Richardson’s natural charisma was present throughout the press conference, and it is clear he is eager to get deeper into his rehab. He’s scheduled to begin throwing for the first time since surgery next month.
Here are some quick notes and takeaways from Richardson’s end of season press conference on Thursday:
Rounding up the notes from Chris Ballard’s press conference.
Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard met with the media Thursday for the first time since the preseason, touching on several topics regarding the team’s direction.
In true Ballard form, he didn’t dive too deep into detail on the majority of topics, but he did touch on several of them. From rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson to players entering free agency, there are several notes to take from the press conference.
Here’s a quick roundup of notes from Ballard’s end-of-season press conference.
The Colts will have plenty of salary-cap space to work with this offseason.
The Indianapolis Colts are gearing up for a vital 2024 offseason in which they will be building off a successful campaign despite missing out on the postseason.
With a promising 21-year-old quarterback on a rookie contract, the Colts find themselves in a strong standing with the salary cap. Though they have a few players to re-sign this offseason, the Colts will be among the leaders in salary cap for the upcoming offseason.
It was reported during the regular season that the NFL salary cap for 2024 is expected to exceed $240 million. The league has not announced the official number, and that won’t happen until March.
According to Over The Cap, the Colts are expected to have roughly $71.2 million in cap space based on a $242 million salary-cap projection. That ranks fifth-best in the NFL.
In terms of effective salary cap, which is defined as “the cap space a team will have after signing at least 51 players and its projected rookie class to its roster”, the Colts rank third with $61.4 million. The top-51 rule applies when the new league year begins in March.
The Colts will have several important players set to hit the market this offseason. Some of them will be re-signed while others will be allowed to test the market. It’s far too early to say which players fall into what categories.
Even with this much salary-cap space, we shouldn’t expect the Colts to go wild. General manager Chris Ballard has never been one to overspend during free agency, but it would give them the ability to pull off a high-profile trade.
It should be an exciting offseason despite the disappointing finish to the 2023 season, and the Colts will have plenty of ammo to work with in terms of the salary cap.
[lawrence-related id=93476,93474,93472]
Here’s a look at who the Colts will play in 2024.
The Indianapolis Colts concluded the 2023 season with a heartbreaking loss against the Houston Texans, knocking them out of playoff contention.
While we will be taking a look at the offseason moving forward, we now know who the Colts will be playing during the 2024 season. The schedule won’t be released until the spring, but we know who the opponents are.
The Colts will play their typical six games in the division, both home and away. They also will play the entire AFC East (four games) and NFC North (four games) divisions, comprising of eight total games. The three remaining games will come against the third-place teams in the AFC North (Pittsburgh Steelers), NFC East (New York Giants) and AFC West.
The outcome of the afternoon game in the AFC West will be updated when that game concludes. Whichever team finishes in third place between the Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos is who the Colts will play.
Here’s a look at the 2024 opponents for the Colts:
Here’s what Shane Steichen said about the crucial fourth-down call.
The Indianapolis Colts saw their season slip away as the fourth-down pass from Gardner Minshew to Tyler Goodson hit the turf on what would have been a first down.
Facing a fourth-and-one at the Texans 15-yard line with 1:03 remaining in the game, head coach Shane Steichen dialed up a quick pass to the flat against a blitzing Texans defense.
The play call worked perfectly. Goodson was wide open to the flat with plenty of room for more to gain. The execution was far from perfect.
Minshew’s throw was just behind Goodson enough to force the running back to flip his body instead of working upfield. The pass still hit Goodson square in the hands—a ball he should have caught.
Instead, the ball fell to the turf, and the Colts watched their season end on a quick pass to the flat.
“The play we had up, we had to look for it. It was man-to-man coverage and just it didn’t work out,” Steichen said. “Felt good about (Tyler) Goodson in that situation. He’s a pass catcher for us in the backfield and it is what it is.”
Part of the several questions about the play surround the personnel. With the season on the line, why not trust Jonathan Taylor, the running back the team paid $42 million just a few months ago?
Steichen didn’t give much in the way of an answer about the personnel usage. Instead, he continued to back the mindset of making the correct call.
“Yeah, they were in a man-to-man defense. Felt good about the call,” Steichen said. “Yeah, I had full confidence in that play in that situation, and I went with my gut, and I saw the look and that’s what we went with.”
It’s a tough pill to swallow for Colts fans. They watched the season slip away on a play that should have been made.
And a lot of the offseason will be wondering what if…?
[lawrence-related id=93435,93438,93442]
Game information for the Week 18 matchup.
The Indianapolis Colts (8-7) and Houston Texans (9-7) will be fighting for their playoff lives at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday night.
The winner of this game is guaranteed at least a wild-card spot with the chance to win the division if the Tennessee Titans upset the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. The loser goes home. It doesn’t get more simple than that.
Here’s all the information you need heading into this Week 18 matchup:
Here’s how the Colts Wire staff sees this win-and-in game shaking out.
The Indianapolis Colts (9-7) and Houston Texans (9-7) are set to battle for a playoff spot Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The sportsbooks have the Colts sitting as slight home underdogs while the experts around the league leaning heavily toward the Texans taking a road victory.
Here’s how the Colts Wire staff sees this Week 18 matchup shaking out:
The experts are leaning heavily to one side in Week 18.
The Indianapolis Colts (9-7) will be playing for the life of their season when they host the Houston Texans (9-7) at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday night.
After Indy bounced back in a Week 17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, they are locked into a win-or-go-home game against the Texans. The winner of this game will be guaranteed at least a wild-card spot with the chance to win the division if the Tennessee Titans pull off the upset over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Vegas has the Colts sitting as 1-point home underdogs in this matchup, according to BetMGM.
Here’s how the experts around the league see this matchup shaking out:
| Expert | Pick | Score (if applicable) | |
| Nate Davis (USA TODAY) | Texans | 30-27 | Link |
| Jarrett Bell (USA TODAY) | Texans | 27-24 | Link |
| Lorenzo Reyes (USA TODAY) | Texans | 24-20 | Link |
| Mike Clay (ESPN) | — | — | Link |
| Dan Graziano (ESPN) | Texans | — | Link |
| NFL Network | Texans | 27-24 | Link |
| Bill Bender (Sporting News) | Texans | 28-20 | Link |
| Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News) | Texans | 23-20 | Link |
| Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) | Texans | 31-26 | Link |
| Cam DaSilva (Sportsbook Wire) | Texans | — | Link |
| Josh Kendall (The Athletic) | Texans | — | Link |
Over at Tallysight, 71% of the analysts have the Texans coming away with a road win. In terms of the 1-point spread, 24% of analysts believe the Colts will cover.
According to BetMGM, the numbers also favor the Texans. As of this writing, 72% of the bettors are taking the Texans (-120) moneyline while 42% have the Colts covering a 1-point spread (-110). Meanwhile, 52% believe the game will hit the under on a 47.5-point total (-110).
This game is for all the marbles. The winner gets into the playoffs while the loser goes home and prepares early for the offseason. The fact that both of these teams are in this situation is a testament to the new coaching staffs. At this point last season, the conversation between these two teams was about draft capital.
The Texans certainly have improved on both sides of the ball. The emergence of C.J. Stroud as one of the game’s most efficient passers has given life to the Texans offense while DeMeco Ryans’ impact on Houston’s defense should not be overlooked.
Anything can happen in this type of high-pressure game, especially between two division-mates. It should make for a fun Saturday night.
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″ ]
