The Indianapolis Colts would fall to 0-2 on Sunday, following a loss to the Green Bay Packers where little went right.
Can the Colts shake that unpleasant statistical trend? We will get to that at a later time, but first, if you’re up for it, let’s take a look back at Sunday’s performance with the good–there was some–the bad, and the ugly.
The Good
Jonathan Taylor
Taylor provided the spark for the Colts offense and was their Player of the Game. He finished the day rushing for 103 yards on just 12 attempts–that’s an average of 8.6 yards per carry. Taylor also had two receptions for 32 yards–which was the second-highest total on the team.
Offensive line
In addition to Taylor’s production in the run game, the offensive line was able to give quarterback Anthony Richardson time in the pocket for much of the game. According to ESPN, the Colts surrendered only one sack and three quarterback hits.
Alec Pierce
Pierce provided the lone steady presence in the passing game for the Colts. He finished the game with a team-high seven targets, catching five of those passes for 56 yards–which led the team as well–and one touchdown. Pierce has been the Colts’ best receiver through two games.
Hurry up offense
Switching to hurry up mode in the second half did provide the Colts passing game with some juice, limiting the Packers ability to substitute and allowing Richardson to find a rhythm while making quick decisions.
The Bad
Turnovers
It’s going to be nearly impossible to win when losing the turnover battle 3-0. The last came on Richardson’s Hailmary attempt, so we can exclude that one, however, the first two were not good decisions, with one coming while Richardson was under duress and the other with Michael Pittman blanketed in coverage.
Where’s the help for Richardson?
We knew that Richardson would go through growing pains, particularly during the early point in the season. However, what we thought was that there would be more help around him. The defense’s struggles in the run game have allowed the Colts’ opponents to get out to early leads and dominate the time of possession. Then on Sunday, there were several dropped passes by the Colts’ pass catchers as well. Not to say that Richardson hasn’t made mistakes, but he needs more help.
Time of possession battle
The Colts once again were cooked in the time of possession battle with the Packers holding the ball for 40:11 to the Colts’ 19:49. The trickle-down effect of this is that it wears out their defense and limits the opportunities on offense.
Where was Jonathan Taylor in the fourth quarter?
After just mentioning that Taylor was the player of the game for the Colts, of the 22 plays ran by their offense in the fourth quarter, Taylor wasn’t on the field for any of them. I’m sure that since it was a pass-heavy situations and Taylor did have two drops earlier, that was a big factor in that decision. But with that said, this is your most consistent playmaker and he’s on the sidelines. One would think the Colts have to find a way to get him out there in key situations, however.
Another miss for Matt Gay
It’s only one game, and it was Gay’s first back from injury, however, the miss from 50-yards highlights what might be a growing concern. In the preseason, Gay was just 1-for-4 on field goal attempts, which included two misses from 50-plus yards. He’s also coming off a season where five of his misses were from beyond 50 yards as well.
Pass defense
The run defense will be what is talked about most, but through the air, Malik Willis–who had only been in Green Bay for less than three weeks–put together an efficient performance, completing 12-of-14 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown. He finished with a passer rating of 126.8.
The Ugly
The run defense. Again.
There’s only choice for this category and it’s the run defense. The Packers totaled 261 rushing yards in the game and this included a whopping 164 in the first quarter alone. Green Bay threw a lot of different personnel and schematic looks at the Colts with their run game and Indianapolis largely had zero answers. As we’ve seen that last two games, a bad run defense is almost too much to overcome because of the macro impact it has on the rest of the game. Things won’t consistently get better for the Colts until this area improves.