Indianapolis Colts' Sloppy Fundamentals Overshadow Preseason Bright Spots

The preseason is a messy business.

It always is, for every team. There are more than 1,000 players in these games that won’t make a final roster in a few weeks. The game-planning is minimal, if there is any at all. Teams are extra cautious with injuries, meaning the slightest bump equals sitting out the rest of the day.

With so many moving pieces and a lack of preparation, it’s no wonder that the net result of preseason games is often poor play. In fact, just one team earned a positive total grade at the end of last preseason from Pro Football Focus: the Philadelphia Eagles.

But even expecting the preseason to be rough, the Indianapolis Colts’ first two games have been a sore sight.

Including Saturday’s 23-11 loss to Chicago, the Colts have lost by a combined 59-21 over the last two games.

Of course, taking meaning out of the final score of preseason games is a fool’s errand. The team went 0-4 during last season’s preseason and ended up making it to the AFC Championship Game.

But the Colts’ losses have been frustrating for another reason: The overall sloppy play has made it difficult to evaluate individual play, which is the most valuable part of the preseason.

It starts on offense, where the horrendous quarterback play after Andrew Luck has overshadowed any bright spots from the second and third-team skill players. Matt Hasselbeck and Bryan Bennett combined to go 7-of-16 for 86 yards and a touchdown on Saturday, and the offense struggled to move the ball at all.

The only bright spots were rookies who could function without strong quarterback play. Phillip Dorsett managed to gain 21 receiving yards on three catches, namely on screens or other quick-hitting plays. Josh Robinson turned heads once again with a 13-carry, 61-yard day.

The rest of the second and third-team offense, however, was near-invisible all day. Let’s take the three receivers battling for the fifth (and possible sixth) spot on the roster.

Vincent Brown caught one quick pass, but he also had a big drop for a potential first down mar his day. Duron Carter continued his invisible preseason, dropping his lone target of the day on a contested catch situation. Griff Whalen’s lone target was a terribly thrown fade by Matt Hasselbeck on third down.

To some extent, nobody has risen to take that fifth spot. On the other, it’s difficult to rise to the occasion when you’re getting one target per game and the throws are late, inaccurate or not there at all.

Defensively, missed tackles continue to plague the Colts. The team had 16 missed tackles in the first game, per Pro Football Focus, and it felt like just as many against Chicago on Saturday.

The sloppy tackling all around overshadowed a few bright spots from the game, including flashes of dominance from a number of young interior linemen. Montori Hughes, Zach Kerr, Henry Anderson and David Parry all had numerous impressive plays in the backfield to stop runs for losses or no gain. If the Colts can get even one of those players to put it together more consistently, it could be a big step forward for the group.

Unfortunately, that gets lost in the shuffle when the rest of the defense is having such a hard time.

Take, for example, Bears rookie Jeremy Langford’s touchdown run in the second half.

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VIDEO: Jeremy Langford takes on the hit, goes the other way and scores. http://t.co/jAlKV0mrta

— MarcusD (@_MarcusD_) August 23, 2015"

Second-year linebacker Jonathan Newsome makes a great play to get penetration in the backfield and blow the run up, but he can’t quite wrap up Langford as he’s still getting blocked. It’s tough to blame Newsome for being unable to get his second arm out from under the offensive lineman, but his penetration should allow ample time for his teammates to get to the ball-carrier.

But, nobody is able to seal off the edge, and Langford bounces back around the weak side for a touchdown. The play goes down as a missed tackle for Newsome and a touchdown allowed for Indianapolis.

Combine missed tackles with 11 penalties for 99 yards and you get a team that is consistently putting itself in poor situations—not a big deal for the team in the preseason, mind you, but something that gives the bottom-of-the-roster players less of a chance to shine.

Sheldon Price, for example, had a great adjustment for an interception, but he also had a pass interference and allowed a touchdown. Junior Sylvestre led the team in team in tackles, with rookie Clayton Geathers right behind him, but both players have had numerous missed tackles and questionable angles taken during the preseason.

But the real embarrassment has come on special teams, where the Colts have been wholly inadequate so far. The Colts are one of four teams to allow over 30 yards per kick return and have allowed the most punt return yards in the league. It seems like every kick is an adventure in tackling.

The return game hasn’t fared much better, although that’s to be expected when you’re lining up Zurlon Tipton and his 4.7-second 40-yard-dash speed back there.

With so much inconsistency, it’s difficult to get an accurate picture of the Colts thus far.

Fortunately, it’s just the preseason. The team’s depth will continue to have opportunities to shine, and ultimately, a large portion of them won’t be on the roster in a few weeks anyway.

It’s far too early for any excessive hand-wringing about the Colts’ outlook this season, but it sure would be nice to see a quarter or two of NFL-quality play.