Was Sunday’s game just Week 1 jitters for the Colts or a serious cause for concern?
The Indianapolis Colts had an underwhelming performance in Week 1. Is this just the opening game curse or should fans be concerned?
Everyone thought this season would be the year the Indianapolis Colts finally got a Week 1 victory. After all, Indy was going against the Houston Texans, a rebuilding franchise that Indy beat by a combined score of 62-3 in two matchups last season. However, that wasn’t the case.
The Colts didn’t win, but they also didn’t lose. They did something much worse, depending on how you look at it. They tied with the Houston Texans. Not only does Indianapolis have to carry the ugly extra column on its record for the remainder of the year, but the team had several concerning moments in the Week 1 game.
Concerns for the Colts after Week 1
The final score of the game was 20-20, and while Indy’s defense could’ve been better, the majority of the concern from Sunday’s game came from the offensive side of the ball. This was the unit that everyone entered the year expecting a dramatic improvement from. However, it was more of the same thing from last season.
Michael Pittman Jr. and Jonathan Taylor were the only reliable contributors and Nyheim Hines also provided a nice spark. However, there wasn’t much excitement from anyone else. Receivers were either dropping passes or struggling to get open, linemen struggled to pass block, and Matt Ryan unexpectedly couldn’t protect the football.
Were these just Week 1 hiccups that the Colts will shake out in the coming weeks or were they a sign of underlying concerns?
Can the Colts clean up their mistakes?
While Indianapolis can definitely improve throughout the year, what we saw in Week 1 doesn’t just seem like something to look over because it was the first game. The reason being is that they are the same problems that the Colts have shown for a while.
When last season ended, there were questions about the pass protection and pass catchers. However, Chris Ballard and the team weren’t uber-aggressive in addressing those positions. Indy decided to once again rely on young unproven players and it’s a decision that could come back to bite them.
It’s only been one game, and the Colts haven’t even lost, technically, but there are some serious issues that need to be addressed.
