Where The Colts Need To Improve Heading Into Week 2

A mixed bag of thoughts after Week One for this Colts team already. The defense was an underwhelming performance in all aspects, but especially against the run. As for the offense, we saw the true potential of what Anthony Richardson can bring to the franchise this season. His passing stats were not eye popping, but his overall impact on the game was undeniable. He bailed out the defense, and really kept the offense afloat, even without support from his other teammates. Plenty of improvement is needed as the Colts travel to Green Bay, as they will take on a suddenly Jordan Love-less Packer team that needs a Week 2 win just as badly as Indianapolis does.

Run Defense

We can get deep into this and say that the entire defense needs work, and it does, but the worst aspect was the run defense against Houston. The Colts allowed 213 yards on the ground, with 159 of that coming from running back Joe Mixon. The Texans offensive line owned the line of scrimmage and controlled the game from start to finish. Their assignment will not get any easier this week, as they will have to take on new Packers running back Josh Jacobs. To pour salt on the wound of Sunday, All-Pro DeForest Buckner left the game with a back injury, with Shane Steichen coy about his status during the Monday press conference. Gus Bradley will need a new scheme this week, as the Packers will likely use the same zone block scheme that Houston executed to perfection this week.

Time Of Possession

Another glaring stat from this game that the Colts must improve was the time of possession in favor of the Texans. They controlled the clock with a 40-minute time of possession, compared to the Colts having 20 minutes. One could argue this is the reason they were bludgeoned on the ground was the conditioning of the team in game. Keeping one side of the ball on the field for that long will affect the team no matter the conditioning, especially in a week one tilt.

The Colts were behind the entire game, which attributed to the team not being able to establish the run properly and get the offense going. The Colts only ran 43 plays from scrimmage on offense, and most of the yardage came from the explosive plays of Alec Pierce and the runs of Anthony Richardson. 

Pass Catcher Distribution

As mentioned above, the stats told us the Colts only ran 43 plays from scrimmage, and 19 of those plays were through the air. Anthony Richardson only completed nine of those nineteen throws. Of those 19 throws, 16 of them went to the trio of Alec Pierce, Micheal Pittman Jr., and Adonai Mitchell. Not a great distribution of the ball, but most of it (outside of the deep balls to Pierce and Dulin) was just the offense not being able to get going or move the ball on this Houston defense.

Let’s not forget this is Anthony Richardson’s fifth professional start, and he was able to hold his own against this team in both the air and ground. You could tell the team missed Josh Downs, and they had to rely on the vertical passing game. The absence of a playmaker at tight end also attributed to the reliance of the vertical passing game. Getting Josh Downs back next week would be monumental, even against a potentially depleted Packers team that will be without starting quarterback Jordan Love.