Colts Offense Mostly As Expected, Defense Shows Worrying Signs

Source: Justin Casterline / Getty

The Indianapolis Colts have once again begun a season starting 0-1, this time at the hands of their divisional rival the Houston Texans in a 29-27 loss at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Colts offense, and quarterback Anthony Richardson, performed about as expected. There were some eye-popping, mind-blowing plays, like Richardson’s 60-yard bomb to Alec Pierce off his back foot; there were also plenty of misses, with multiple passes to rookie Adonai Mitchell air-mailed, and just a general lack of consistency through the air.

Overall, it was the type of performance Colts fans should come to expect from the passing game. You’re going to see Richardson have these incredible moments, followed by moments of incredible frustration. Sure, it will help if the Colts get Jonathan Taylor going, at least more so than they did against the Texans, but it’s going to be an up-and-down experience with such a young player at quarterback.

The bigger concern if you’re a Colts fan is on the defensive side of the ball. Sure, there were worries about the secondary and its lack of depth, but very few if any saw the Texans running roughshod all over the Colts and their vaunted defensive line to the tune of 213 total rushing yards, 153 of them by Bengals cast-off Joe Mixon. The Colts did get good pressure on Texans quarterback C.J Stroud, sacking him four times, but it was shocking to see them so thoroughly dominated on the ground.

Sign up for the 107.5 The Fan Newsletter to receive the latest news updates!

Thank you for subscribing! Email

The strength of the Colts defense is supposed to be in the trenches. If their line continuously gets blown off the ball in the run game like they did against Houston, it’s going to be very hard for the Colts to meet their playoff expectations. Simply put, they cannot have a repeat performance against the run. Otherwise, it could be a very long year for defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and company.

During the Monday edition of The Ride With JMV, John broke down the Colts loss to the Texans with Stephen Holder of ESPN. Listen to that conversation down below, and tune into The Ride With JMV weekdays from 3-6pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan!

The post Colts Offense Mostly As Expected, Defense Shows Worrying Signs appeared first on 93.5 / 107.5 The Fan .

The post Colts Offense Mostly As Expected, Defense Shows Worrying Signs appeared first on WIBC 93.1 FM .