The Indianapolis Colts started the season with a draw with the Houston Texans. Here are the players responsible for that outcome.
Unfortunately, the NFL still allows for games to end in a tie. Even more unfortunate is that the Indianapolis Colts finished Week 1 with a tie on their record. After storming back into the game late, the Colts were able to force overtime with the Houston Texans but neither team could score in the extra period and the game ended 20-20.
While Indianapolis didn’t lose, this still extends the streak of not winning a Week 1 game since 2013. As is typically the case with draws, there were some good and bad for both teams. Since winning is the ultimate goal, there was obviously more bad for Indy but there were some bright spots.
Let’s take a look at four Colts players that are responsible for the tie. We’ll highlight two players that did everything possible to keep Indy in the game and also the players that had a Week 1 to forget. Let’s start with the good.
Michael Pittman Jr. played like a true No. 1
Michael Pittman Jr. was one of the few bright spots for the Colts on Sunday. With an extremely inconsistent offense, Pittman played like a true No. 1 receiver in this league and provided stability to Matt Ryan in his first game.
Pittman finished the game with nine receptions for 121 yards and he scored the game-tying touchdown. Anytime Ryan dropped back to pass, Pittman was likely on the opposite end of the attempt. He was targeted 13 times on Sunday, six more targets than the next highest wideout.
Pittman was consistently open and showcased strong hands for the majority of the game. While there’s still a lot of concern about the offense, Michael Pittman Jr. showed that he will be a reliable No. 1 receiver for Indianapolis.
Jonathan Taylor tried putting the Colts on his back
Much like last season, Jonathan Taylor tried putting Indianapolis on his back and running towards a victory. He almost did it, but Indy couldn’t pull things off, to no fault of Taylor. In his first action of the season, the Colts came to Taylor early and often and he delivered all throughout the game.
Taylor had 31 carries for 161 yards and one touchdown. He also was a factor in the passing game catching four passes for 14 yards. If there was any fear of regression for Taylor, he quickly showed that won’t be the case.
Unfortunately, Indianapolis was 9-1 last season when Taylor ran for at least 100 yards. While the Colts could have another similar record with big days from Taylor this season, they got things started off in the wrong direction.
Taylor did everything he possibly could to keep Indianapolis in the game. Even when the Texans were leading late, Indy still was confident in handing the ball off to Jonathan Taylor because they knew he would make something happen.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough happening around Taylor. Let’s transition to the players that struggled in Week 1 and will have to do more moving forward.
Receivers not named Michael Pittman Jr. weren’t consistent
As many feared going into the season, Michael Pittman Jr. was a consistent presence but there was no other consistent receiver after him. The next highest player in both receptions and yards was Nyheim Hines with six catches for 50 yards. While it was great to see Hines’ new role in the offense, the other wideouts left a lot to be desired.
Ashton Dulin was targeted six times and only caught three passes for 46 yards. Parris Campbell was targeted four times and caught three passes for 37 yards. Mike Strachan caught both of his two targets for 36 yards and Alec Pierce went catch-less in his debut with two targets.
One of his targets was a dropped pass in the end zone that will probably give him nightmares and the other was a well-defended slant in the end zone that was swatted by Derek Stingley. Pierce also had another target that he dropped before taking a huge hit but the play didn’t count because the defender was penalized for unnecessary roughness.
Ultimately, this isn’t going to cut it. This has been the concern for the Colts since last year and Frank Reich and Chris Ballard were confident that they had a group good enough. The group did not prove them right on Sunday and that’s part of the reason why Indy now has a draw on the record.
Offensive line struggled to keep Matt Ryan clean
Just like wide receiver, the offensive line was another concerning group for Indianapolis heading into the season. While everyone knew they could run block, it was the pass-blocking that brought worry. In Sunday’s game, the offensive line did very little to ease those worries, in fact, they heightened them.
Overall, it was just inconsistency that was the issue. Ryan wasn’t consistently under duress, at points throughout the game, he did have a clean pocket and time to find wideouts. However, there were also several moments where the linemen were helping Ryan up off the ground.
Ryan was sacked just twice but was hit an additional seven times by the Texans. That’s not ideal for a 37-year-old quarterback that is playing in his 15th season. At a point in the game, starting left tackle Matt Pryor was subbed out for rookie Bernhard Raimann, however, the Colts have already expressed that they don’t feel Raimann is ready yet, so that wasn’t the solution.
This is something Indianapolis will need to figure out and they’ll need to do it fast. Matt Ryan has to stay clean in the pocket and since Indy doesn’t have elite receivers, he’ll likely need more time in the pocket so that the wideouts can run themselves free. This has to be better next week if Indy wants to get in the win column.
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