The Indianapolis Colts turned in a dominant offensive performance in Indy's Week 7 win against the Los Angeles Chargers. Daniel Jones threw two touchdown passes and Jonathan Taylor carried the ball across the goal line three times. The offensive machine kept rolling.
On the defensive side of the ball, at first glance, it would seem there isn't much to critique. Sure, they gave up 24 points to the Justin Herber led offense, but the Colts put a 38 spot on the board. Herbert was also sacked three times and tossed a couple of interceptions which halted Chargers' drives.
We can take into account Indianapolis played with a weakened secondary, most notably Charvarius Ward who was placed on injured reserve before the game due to a concussion. Thanks a lot, Drew Ogletree. The Colts did welcome cornerback Kenny Moore III after a three-game absence due to an Achilles injury.
Indianapolis Colts defense does just enough but will need to do more
Players like DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, and Zaire Franklin made some big plays when the team needed it most. It's just that some of those plays came with Los Angeles deep in Indianapolis territory. In what could be a season defining game, that's too close for comfort.
Stewart was able to tip a Herbert pass straight up into the air which came down in his hands for his first career interception. Nick Cross picked off a Herbert pass in the end zone towards the end of the second quarter, preventing the Chargers from putting more points on the board.
Zaire Franklin came up big in the fourth quarter, breaking up a third-down pass intended for Ladd McConkey in the end zone. The Chargers would turn the ball over on downs one play later. And Buckner sacked Herbert late in the fourth quarter which gave the ball back to the Colts to cement the win for the Colts.
I realize each of these plays were instrumental in the Colts' win and I'm not trying to discount that. The takeaway should be that the majority of these plays came when the Chargers were already deep into the Indianapolis side of the field. This made the secondary seem even more vulnerable than they already were.
The Indianapolis defense had to rely on the big lead the offense built up early in the game. Allowing a team like Los Angeles to get into a rhythm and have such sustained drives could just as easily have caused this game to turn out much differently.
Switching to more of a prevent defense, which is what the team did during the second half, may have came out of necessity. The team lost a couple of pass rushers to injury. Samson Ebukam left with a knee injury and Tyquan Lewis departed with an injured groin. A prevent defense, though, typically prevents a team from winning so the Colts were fortunate in that regard.
Making plays when they aren't going to cut it against the teams on the upcoming schedule. Indianapolis will host the division rival Tennessee Titans before road games against Pittsburgh, Atlanta (home game but in London), and Kansas City. The Colts will need to turn up the pressure on defense to stay atop the AFC standings.