Colts offensive mistakes led to loss against the Oakland Raiders
By Daniel Davis
The Indianapolis Colts are fresh off their second loss of the year against the visiting Oakland Raiders falling to 2-2 on the season while being 1-0 in the division.
The Colts lost a close game at home to a team that struggled last week on the road. The banged-up Colts looked to take on the Oakland Raiders and take home a win for the second straight week but fell short, mainly due to the third-down percentage and long third downs they had.
Indianapolis was 6 of 16 on third down but 3 of 3 on 4th down. The main reason was the length of said third downs. Of the sixteen, twelve were over 8 yards and five were over 10 yards leading a field position battle Oakland eventually won.
The offense was ready and looked poise up until the 4th quarter when Oakland just took control of the game. Jacoby Brissett didn’t make many mistakes, but the ones he did make were costly to the team.
The defense, on the other hand, was missing Malik Hooker and Darius Leonard. Darren Waller was getting open and to be fair, he’s a matchup nightmare. He reminds me of Jimmy Graham in his prime where he’s too big for a safety or a corner but too fast for a linebacker to cover – which is where Leonard’s absence is felt the most.
What makes the Maniac so important is his speed and coverage ability. Yes, he’s a great tackler, but he’s also a great coverage linebacker as well. The Colts run a soft-zone cover-2 which leaves the middle of the field open in most instances.
Next. The Colts need to keep their heads up. dark
What’s important to take away from this game is the Colts were competitive in a game where they missed two defensive studs and the offense scored points when they needed to. Outside a few bad plays, the team played a fairly good game and Colts should be holding their head up high.