GREEN BAY, Wis. — When budding Packers star Jordan Love went down with an injury at the end of Green Bay’s season opener, the Colts were handed a golden opportunity to steal a win against a limited Packers team despite it being the Lambeau Field opener.
Indianapolis instead turned in one of the worst performances of Shane Steichen ’s time as Colts head coach.
Overpowered by Green Bay up front and inept offensively, the Colts lost a 16-10 decision that was far worse than the final score, dropping Indianapolis to 0-2 and leaving plenty of questions about the team’s viability moving forward.
Colts score: Colts trail Packers in fourth quarter; scores, highlights
Colts run defense obliterated
Green Bay’s offensive game plan should have been easy to see coming.
Forced to play without Love, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was always likely to build their game plan around a diverse running game capable of testing the edges of the Indianapolis defense in every way that Houston dominated the Colts in the opening week of the season, particularly a Colts team playing without strong safety Julian Blackmon and with a severely limited DeForest Buckner.
Indianapolis had to know it was coming.
And Green Bay did it anyway.
Handing the ball off on almost every play in the first half, the Packers racked up 237 rushing yards before halftime, the most the Colts have allowed in the first 30 minutes since hemorrhaging 257 to Jacksonville in 2006.
Instead of forcing Malik Willis into obvious throwing situations — something Green Bay clearly didn’t want to do, considering that LaFleur chose to run the ball three times in a two-minute situation at the end of the first half instead of even attempting to increase a 10-0 lead — the Packers just ran it over and over, using Josh Jacobs to knife outside and sprinkling in wide receiver runs with Jaylen Reed and Max Melton.
Jacobs finished with 146 yards on 29 carries, and Green Bay finished with 261 yards on 53 carries overall.
Indianapolis did not adjust until the end of the first half, and by then, the damage had largely been done, and the Packers were so dominant on the ground that it made life easy on Willis when he did have to throw.
Willis completed 12 of 14 yards for 122 yards and a touchdown, rushed six times for 41 yards and repeatedly victimized the Colts defense, even though Green Bay clearly did not trust him.
Anthony Richardson struggles
For the second consecutive week, Richardson was far too inconsistent as a passer, and unlike the opening game, the big plays did not come to make up for it.
Richardson completed 17 of 34 passes for 204 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, the first two coming on ugly throws, albeit for entirely different reasons.
The first was the kind of miss that’s become all too familiar in Richardson’s short time as the Colts quarterback. Richardson had an open Alec Pierce breaking free on a deep crossing route, but he floated the ball far too high for even the acrobatic Pierce to get, right into the waiting arms of Green Bay safety Xavier McKinney.
Richardson also failed to make an impact in the running game, rushing four times for 37 yards, and on the final Hail Mary, instead of rolling out of the pocket, he stayed inside, forcing him to throw the ball too early and failing to reach the end zone.
Indianapolis has always been expecting inconsistency from Richardson, a young quarterback who made the sixth start of his career in Green Bay, but if Richardson is not explosive, it is clear he’s not efficient enough to keep the Colts offense rolling.
Shane Steichen, Colts weapons fail Richardson
Richardson was not good against the Packers on Sunday.
But he also didn’t get much help from the weapons around him. Running back Jonathan Taylor rushed 12 times for 103 yards and caught two passes for 32 yards, but he also had two key drops, including a critical drop on fourth down, and did not appear to be available late in the game.
Rookie wide receiver Adonai Mitchell dropped a key third-down throw. Michael Pittman Jr. dropped a pass in his chest on the play before that. Tight end Kylen Granson dropped a sliding catch in the red zone late in the fourth quarter.
Pierce had five catches for 56 yards and a touchdown, but the Packers clearly decided to keep him in check, doubling Pierce every time he tried to get deep, and none of the other Colts were able to make Green Bay pay for the attention the Packers paid to the team’s best deep threat.
A young quarterback like Richardson needs the players around him to be strong to be successful.
Indianapolis struggled instead, and Steichen didn’t help, trying an option call on a key third down that went nowhere, along with failing to stick with Taylor and the running game when the Colts were clearly struggling in the passing game early.
Injuries might leave Colts without best pass rushers
As bad as the day was for the Indianapolis defense, it might be worse because of the two players the Colts lost to injury.
Buckner, a three-time Pro Bowler and the team’s unquestioned leader, was caught up in a pile on a screen late in the game and suffered a significant injury to his right ankle . At least five Colts went to a knee around Buckner as he was examined, and he had to be carted off the sideline and into the locker room.
First-round pick Laiatu Latu, the defensive end Indianapolis drafted in April to take the pass rush to the next level, suffered a hip injury minutes later and was immediately declared out for the game.
The Colts consider Buckner and Latu to be their two best pass rushers.
If they’re both out for a considerable amount of time, a pass rush that was supposed to be the strength of the defense will be significantly diminished.
Matt Gay gamble fails
Veteran kicker Matt Gay, who underwent surgery on a hernia after the final preseason game, fought his way back into the lineup ahead of schedule.
But he missed a 50-yard field goal attempt in the second half, hooking it wide left, the same way he missed three field goals in the preseason, and the kicker the Colts paid a hefty price to get in free agency is suddenly a significant concern moving forward.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts turn in one of worst performances of Steichen's tenure, lose 16-10 vs Packers
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