3 most important things we learned in the Colts first preseason game

The Colts have officially played a preseason game for the 2023 year. They lost to the Buffalo Bills 23-19 on Saturday, but who cares. The preseason isn’t about winning and losing. It’s about growing and getting a team prepared for the regular season.

It’s also about overreactions. With starters only playing two to three series throughout the league, the preseason isn’t the end all be all. With that understood, there are still things to learn from watching a preseason game. You can see what the team does well and where they still need to grow. Let’s take a look at the three most important things we learned from the Colts first preseason game of 2023.

3. Kicking is a problem for the Colts

Kicking has been a problem for Indianapolis the last few seasons. To fix that, the Colts acquired Matt Gay this offseason, signing him to the biggest contract in free agency for a kicker in NFL history. However, his career with the Indianapolis Colts didn’t get off to a great start.

After a nice, 14-play, 83-yard drive by the offense, Indy called on Gay to kick a 28-yard field goal, hoping to end a productive drive with some points. Instead, Gay missed the kick wide left. Gay was successful on his only extra point attempt.

The only other kicker on the roster is Lucas Havrisik. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to capitalize on Gay’s struggles, as Havrisik missed his first and only extra point attempt.

Sure, the game was in Buffalo and it was definitely windy, but a team should have a kicker that can knock in a 28-yard field goal and an extra point. It didn’t seem like the Colts had one in the preseason game against the Bills. That’s something the team must get figured out.