Frank Reich was supposed to have this team ready to fight and win. He was coming off a game where he called a fantastic offensive game that allows the Colts to score 27 points in a win. He did not have the same kind of effort in this one.
While they did score 24 points, it was a struggle. The ground game was poor. Marlon Mack only had 39 yards and left the game because of an ankle injury. The offensive line didn’t open up holes to run through, and when they did they committed holding penalties.
The coaching staff also didn’t do a good job making this team disciplined. They are one of the least penalized team in the league. But on Sunday they weren’t able to keep themselves together. They had a few holding penalties that killed drives and put them behind the sticks.
Matt Eberflus has to figure the defense out. They are really bad right now and haven’t looked like they have any chance of turning things around. It’s up to him to fix the abomination that takes the field. If they aren’t better, this team will lose a lot of games.
That leads me to the second takeaway from the quarter point of the season. It has to do with the defense and how they have played so far against expectations.