Jake's Takes | Colts Get Improbable Win Over Chiefs
The Indianapolis Colts didn't think they'd have to wait until Week 3 for their first win of the season, but they'll take it.
After being beaten down in their first two weeks and coming off of an embarrassing shutout the week before, the Colts (1-1-1) defended their home turf and defeated the Kansas City Chiefs (2-1) on Sunday, 20-17.
Here are some of my main observations from Sunday.
—Colts took advantage of the mistakes: Coming into the game, it was important that the Colts cleaned up their own unforced errors and took advantage of the Chiefs' mistakes in order to win, and they did just that. The Colts got their first score of the day on a touchdown following a muffed punt deep in the Chiefs' own territory. They also got the Chiefs off the field, holding them to 3-of-10 on third downs, 2-of-4 in the red zone, and got a pair of missed kicks from Kansas City's Matt Ammendola as well as a failed fake field goal. Ultimately, they ended the game on an interception with two seconds remaining in the game.
—Pass rush looked better: The Colts only officially notched 1 sack on the day but their pass rush was much better and more consistent than it has been at any point yet this season. Patrick Mahomes is a very difficult quarterback to bring down because of his ability to extend plays, so simply flushing him out of the pocket and staying on his back is productive. They did hit him 5 times.
—What a day for the rookies: The Colts got some quality contributions from their rookies on Sunday, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Tight end Jelani Woods made the first 2 catches of his career (13 yards), both for touchdowns. Likewise, wide receiver Alec Pierce had his first three receptions (61 yards), all of which went for first downs. Both players showed the exact kind of abilities that made them the Colts' first two selections in the 2022 NFL Draft.
—The Colts' offense can't flourish until the line plays reasonable football: The Colts' offensive line looks as bad as it did about 10 years ago. Quarterback Matt Ryan is under constant duress, taking 5 sacks and 10 hits on Sunday, and running lanes are tough to come by. All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson is about the only player not causing concern. New right guard Danny Pinter has been repeatedly victimized, as has right tackle Braden Smith which is more concerning considering he was once considered one of the best right tackles in the game. Both he and center Ryan Kelly have had issues with leaky protection, and they were supposed to form a reliable trio with Nelson while Pinter and left tackle Matt Pryor got up to speed. The Colts don't appear to be able to execute any game plan to success or form any identity while the line is performing this way.
—Matt Ryan's ball security is becoming a real issue: A domino effect of Ryan being constantly harrassed is his ball security issues. He has now fumbled 7 times this season. At this stage of his career, that's unlikely to change, so the Colts' pass protection issues need to improve in a hurry.
—Safeties step up: Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley employed more two-safety looks on Sunday to prevent big downfield plays from the Chiefs' offense, as Mahomes has had success against Bradley's normal single-high safety looks throughout his career. It worked quite well and was made even more challenging with starting free safety Julian Blackmon leaving the game in the first half with an ankle injury. He was replaced by rookie seventh-round pick Rodney Thomas II, who performed well under the circumstances. Nick Cross was relegated to a backup role (perhaps due to not using a traditional box safety), and Rodney McLeod saw action in his place. Many of the Chiefs' big plays were runs after the catch rather than downfield shots, so Bradley's approach worked.
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