The Indianapolis Colts fell short on Sunday against the Houston Texans and now sit at 4-4 on the season. Houston, meanwhile, is 6-2 and holds the tie-breaker advantage over Indianapolis.
I’ve now had the chance to go back and rewatch the Colts’ performance and made note of my key observations as I watched the second time through.
– Jonathan Taylor finished the game with 20 carries, but there was the opportunity for more. The Colts began the game with five straight passing plays and throughout the game, their reliance on the run game at times was sporadic. With the passing game struggling, Taylor could have shouldered more of the workload.
– Anthony Richardson is going to take the brunt of the blame for the passing game woes, which comes with the territory as the quarterback. He absolutely has to be better and the lack of improvement is concerning. But with that said, his pass catchers have got to help him out more as well, with there being dropped passes and struggles to make contested catches early on. Shane Steichen also has to reduce the number of longer developing plays and utilize Richardson more on designed runs. I’m not saying that’s going to solve these issues and turn everything around, but they can’t keep doing the same thing.
– I alluded to it above, but while big plays are great, the Colts have to find more consistency on the short to intermediate throws. It’s those passes that help sustain drives and can help the offense find a rhythm.
– The Colts’ offensive line has been among the best units this season, but they struggled against a very good Houston pass rush. Richardson was under pressure on nearly 50 percent of his dropbacks, according to PFF.
– We saw the DeForest Buckner-effect on display. Overall, it was a good performance from the Colts’ defensive front, who held Joe Mixon to 4.1 yards per rush and pressured CJ Stroud on 46 percent of his dropbacks–a season-high for Indianapolis. There is the obvious impact Buckner brings by filling the stat sheet himself, but his presence opens up opportunities for others.
– Not that we need a rewatch to know this, but a really good game for Dayo Odeyingbo. Whether it as a pass rusher or against the run, he was seemingly everywhere.
– Contributing to the Colts’ success rushing the passer was Gus Bradley’s usage of stunts and blitzes.
– Stefon Diggs led the Texans in receptions with five. Second on the team was tight end Dalton Schultz and running back Joe Mixon with four receptions each, totaling 84 yards. Houston went after the Colts’ linebackers a bit in this one.
– Whether it be a penalty, a dropped pass or off-target throw, or a run play that didn’t go anywhere, if the Colts didn’t stay ahead of the sticks on first down, the drive was pretty much over. Falling behind the sticks puts the offense in predictable passing situations, which this offense is nowhere near good enough to overcome.
– Speaking of penalties, particularly the ones on offense, they put the Colts in a hole down and distance-wise that they just can’t overcome. The Colts were penalized nine times for 57 yards.
– Overall, it was a good performance by the Indianapolis defense. The Texans, as they do with the talent that they have, found some success, particularly as the game went on. However, what kept the Colts in the game was that Houston was just 2-for-6 in the red zone.
– Steichen wanted to get aggressive at the end of the first half to get into field goal range as they did the week prior against Miami. It was a move, however, that backfired greatly and came with a massive momentum swing. Instead of going into half tied 10-10 and beginning with the ball and a chance to take the lead, the Colts started the third quarter down a touchdown, punted, allowing Houston to go up two scores with a field goal.
– Another key play in this game, was on the Texans’ first possession of the third quarter, they faced 2nd-and-16 from their own two-yard line. But a 10 yard run from Mixon and then a 19 yard completion to Xavier Hutchinson moved the chains. The Colts went from potentially getting the ball back around midfield and down a touchdown to eventually trailing by 10 points.