After starting off the year as a surprise team sitting on top of the AFC South at 2-1, the Colts have lost 4 out of 5 and 3 straight. There are several keys to why this is, but that will be left for another article. For now, let’s look into this week’s game and see what went wrong again for this struggling team.
It’s kind of difficult to even use the word, “struggle” as this offense is the only offense in the league to score 20+ points in every game this season, and going into this game, the offense was ranked top 10 in several major categories like points/game (25.4), TDs/game (2.9), and yards/game (361.1).
The issue for Indy has been two things 1). They’ve had 9 turnovers on their 3-game losing streak and 13 total turnovers in their 5 losses and 2). The defense is giving up one of the league’s worst 27.3 points per game and in the 5 losses, they have given up over 34 points per game.
The Struggles on Defense
These defensive woes can be chalked up to injuries to key players, but at the end of the day, teams have to play the guys that they have and plan their depth accordingly for unforseen injuries. The Colts secondary has struggled and it started with the indefinite suspension of CB Isaiah Rogers who was subsequently released by the Colts, then CB Dallis Flowers goes down with a season ending injury in week 4 against the Rams, and then their rookie sensation CB JuJu Brents has been nursing a quad injury that he sustained last week against the Browns. Needless to say, this defense has been a struggle, but they have made plays here and there to keep the offense in games. Ultimately, though, they don’t make enough plays and that has been a killer for this team.
For this week’s game, the defense forced only 4 punts on 11 possessions. They did manage to get a sack-fumble with led to 3-points for the offense, but on their next defensive series, the Saints would go right down the field for a 75-yard TD drive. The Colts struggled to defend the red zone as they allowed the Saints to convert on their first 4 red zone drives (the one field goal in the red zone would come at the end of the game when the Saints were running the clock out). Derek Carr was sacked one time that resulted in a fumble, but outside of that, the Colts really did not get much consistent pressure on the day.
Needless to say, this defense is struggling with injuries to key players and with their star DT Grover Stewart being out with a suspension. It’s easy to chalk all blame to Gus Bradley or the young cornerbacks, Jaylan Jones and Tony Brown, but the point is that Jones and Brown were depth pieces and were not expected to play a ton this season. If the Colts want to salvage something positive out of this season to regroup for next year, they will need to explore the trade market or free agency and get some secondary help. The trade deadline for the 2023 NFL season is October 31st @ 4pm.
The Inconsistencies on Offense
The Colts were controlling the first quarter with a 10-7 lead and at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, the defense got the fumble and the Colts went down the field for a 30-yard TD drive to go up 17-7. So, what happened in that first quarter and a half why did it not get sustained?
In the first quarter, Jonathan Taylor was running like a man on a mission as he had 82 rushing yards on 7 attempts (this included a mean 42-yard rush). The Colts also utilized Michael Pittman Jr. early on as he has 5 receptions for 30 yards and 1 TD. The issue is that the Saints started packing the line and stuffing the running game and Gardner Minshew could no longer utilize the play action pass game which ultimately leads to his success with this offense.
After about the midway point of the second quarter, Jonathan Taylor would rush 5 more times but for only 13 yards and Michael Pittman Jr. would only have 3 receptions for 10 yards. Essentially, the Colts key playmakers were taken out of this game in the moments they were needed the most, whether by play-calling or just good defense by the Saints.
Even though the Colts got off to a quick start and the defense started to struggle, they still had an opportunity to go into the locker room with the lead. Unfortunately, on a 3rd & 1 play on the NO 24, the Colts decided to throw the ball and it was incomplete to Alec Peirce over the middle of the field.
This play was the beginning of the end for the success of this offense as their next 3 possessions were – PUNT, INT, PUNT. This was all while the Saints went PUNT, PUNT, TD, TD. Although the score indicates the Saints winning by two possessions, the Colts had a chance to tie this game towards the end, but they just couldn’t get anything down the field on that crucial possession. Subsequently, they would punt and rely on their defense, but the defense did not hold up.
The Final Down
It’s tough to pinpoint where the Colts went wrong with this game. The lack of a running game in the second half produced a lot of struggles for Minshew and this offense and the lack of experience in the secondary got exploited by the veteran QB Derek Carr. All in all, CB Dallis Flowers is out for the year, QB Anthony Richardson is out for the year, DT Grover Stewart is out for at least the next 4 games, and rookie CB JuJu Brents is still out with a quad injury. These 4 key players being out are certainly a part of the struggles so far, but at the end of the day, good teams make do with what they have. Right now, the Colts have not been able to make do and they are getting exploited.
We’ll see if this team can get back on track when they face the Carolina Panthers on the road next week (11/5).
The Lucky Colt 
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