It didn’t start well for the Indianapolis Colts, but they gradually pulled away from a severely undermanned Washington Commanders squad and coasted to a 30-13 win in the NFL’s Week 4 London game. It improved the Colts to 2-2 on the season and means that they are right back in the race in the AFC South.
Despite scoring 30, this game was won by the beleaguered defense. That is partly due to serious injury issues that hindered the Commanders throughout the game, but Lou Anarumo’s squad stepped up when needed. It was far from perfect, but it was a step in the right direction.
The Colts still have plenty of problems to address if they want to build on their recent momentum, but we can take a few moments today to celebrate several positives.
7 takeaways from the Indianapolis Colts Week 4 win over the Washington Commanders
The interior defenders played their best game of the year
DeForest Buckner was dominant all game long. His fellow defensive tackles Grover Stewart and Jerry Tillery both played their best games of the year. Together, those three combined for 15 tackles and four tackles for loss. Those are exceptional numbers for a group of defensive tackles.
Excluding one early outside read-option run by quarterback Marcus Mariota, the Commanders managed just 65 yards on 21 carries. And on that run, it was Buckner who chased the QB down 35 yards downfield.
This is what should have happened. The Commanders were essentially playing a center and two guards who are all run-of-the-mill backups. Missing their three best offensive players and forced to go with a seventh-round rookie at QB for most of the game, the Colts should have dominated.
But “should have” doesn’t always mean it actually happened. It was nice to see the defenders succeed on Sunday.
Seth McGowan is the real deal
Indy may have finally found a legit backup to give Jonathan Taylor some help. McGowan ran well. More importantly, Shane Steichen trusted him at key moments in the game. Taylor still carried the ball 20 times, but that is a few carries under what he had been averaging. It is trending in the right direction.
Justin Walley had a great bounce back game
Walley had been burned throughout the first three weeks of the season. But he had been looking a little more comfortable week by week. Sunday was his best game. He had a sack and eight tackles. His coverage was much better.
The same applies to Charvarius Ward, who had been struggling early. Again, Washington was without their best receiver and used a rookie QB for much of the game, but Walley still did what he had to do.
Penalties largely determined the game
The Colts had a couple of turnovers early and gave up some ugly plays, but they were flagged for just one penalty for five yards.
That penalty did give up a crucial fourth-down conversion, but compared to Washington’s ten penalties – several of which completely changed the momentum of the game – Steichen’s team should be credited for their relative lack of self-inflicted wounds – especially after the early turnovers.
After Mariota went out, it became clear that the Colts were going to win, provided they didn’t make a lot of careless mistakes. Over the final three quarters, they did not.
Spencer Shrader continues to be a beast
Not much to explain here. Six kicks. Six conversions. Shrader has yet to miss this year. But I will add this one cool tidbit. Early on, when the Colts had the ball, the TV production put up Shrader’s target field goal line...on the 50! That means they think he has a good chance of converting from 68 yards out. That’s not really an accurate line, but it was fun to see on the screen.
First quarter play calling?
It wasn’t all rosy. Indianapolis wasn’t especially good in several areas and was aided significantly by the Commanders’ injuries and play-calling, as well as by some iffy penalties.
As for Steichen’s play-calling, what was he thinking in the first quarter? 10 passes versus three runs? Really? That isn’t the Colts. As a result, they trailed early. When they went back to an offense based on Jonathan Taylor, they took control.
Daniel Jones is not “back”
The announcers repeatedly said Jones was completely healed. They offered his touchdown run as proof. This simply isn’t true. Jones was terrible early and was never especially good all day. That run was heroic and effective. He did score.
But the old Daniel Jones would have simply outrun Amik Robertson to the pylon. He is not moving as well as he did last year. Whether he eventually works his way back to that level is an open question. This might be who he is now. If that is true, he can still produce, and the Colts can still win with him under center, but expectations need to be adjusted.
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