Biggest Takeaways from Indianapolis Colts' Week 6 Loss
How do we view the Indianapolis Colts' 34-27 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday night?
Do we view it as a massive improvement? The Colts hadn't lost to the Patriots by less than 20 points in the last four seasons, and most had predicted another huge blowout. The Colts competed with the Patriots for the entire game, and they even had a chance to win the game at the end with an onside kick.
On the other hand, we saw a Colts team that embarrassed itself with one of the worst fake-punt attempts ever. That, along with other coaching and execution miscues, overshadowed the fact that the Colts outperformed expectations.
Do we blast the Colts for making a few critical errors? Do we praise them for looking much, much better than we expected?
We'll look at that and other questions in this week's biggest takeaways.
Andrew Luck Still Doesn't Look Right
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For a half, Andrew Luck looked like the player who threw 40 touchdown passes last season.
He was decisive, he made smart decisions, he was aware in the pocket. He even had a little magic in him.
But then the Colts went down by two scores in the second half, and everything unraveled. He made a few nice throws in the half, sure, but he also missed countless open receivers with high throws and missed a few pre-snap reads on New England's blitzes.
Is this because of his injury?
According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, multiple NFL executives think Luck is still hurt, and that he lacked "authority" in his throws.
It's hard to argue with that, but it's worth noting that Luck has lacked his normal control over his passes all season, struggling with consistent ball placement throughout the first three games before suffering a shoulder injury against Tennessee.
Perhaps he's been hurt longer than the team has let on. Perhaps there is another issue going on. Regardless, until he regains his control and/or improves in picking out defensive alignments pre-snap, the Colts will not be a contender.
Frank Gore Changes Things
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Adding Frank Gore to the Colts' roster has changed things.
When Andrew Luck was out, the Colts defeated both the Titans and the Jets in large part because of Gore. Rushing for 151 yards and a touchdown over two games doesn't seem like much to get excited about, but for Indianapolis, who was protecting Matt Hasselbeck by running the ball and throwing quickly, Gore's consistency was critical.
Against the Patriots, Gore was once again impressive, averaging six yards per carry with 78 yards on 13 carries.
The problem was that second number. With Gore running so well, how did the Colts only give him 13 carries?
The Colts had the desired offensive balance in the first half and were moving the ball well. But in the second half, the team's countless holding penalties and a few head-scratching plays put the offense in poor position and led to a New England two-score lead.
Once the Colts were down multiple scores in the fourth quarter, they went to a spread passing attack, wary of the clock. Meanwhile, New England dropped eight defensive backs on just about every play, and the Colts struggled to move the ball.
Finally, the Colts have a running back that can change games, but they minimized his effectiveness on Sunday with 11 penalties for 103 yards. That must change if their offense is to be the caliber we thought it would be.
The Colts Pass Rush Is Still Very Bad
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You could look at the fact that Tom Brady was sacked twice on Sunday night as a sign of encouragement.
Brady, after all, gets the ball out quicker than any quarterback in the league, and the Colts have struggled with the pass rush. Getting to him twice, with one being on a crucial third down in the second half, seemed to be a good step.
But that ignores context of the game, including the fact that the Patriots lost left tackle Nate Solder early in the week, and backup Marcus Cannon went out of the game with an injury in the first half.
Despite the third-string left tackle playing most of the game for New England, however, the Colts couldn't get home on Brady often enough. While they did make him move in the pocket a few times, Brady was able to avoid the rush, step up and make throws throughout the night.
Most of the Colts' success came with creative blitzes, and while it's nice to see some blitzing success, the Colts have to be able to create pressure with a base rush at some point. Perhaps playing Robert Mathis more will help. The Colts stubbornly stuck to their pitch count for Mathis on Sunday, as he had just 18 snaps, per the NFL's gamebook.
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The Middle of the Field Is a Problem
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Last January, the Colts got run over by the Patriots for the fourth consecutive matchup.
The Patriots had averaged 222 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns per game over that four-game stretch.
As a result, media proclaimed the need for run-stuffing defensive linemen throughout the spring, and many have rejoiced with the strong play of players like Henry Anderson, David Parry and Billy Winn to start the season.
But the Colts never addressed their most pressing defensive issue: inside linebacker.
The Colts lucked into a starter in Jerrell Freeman back in 2012, as a CFL signing turned into something much more impressive than expected. But Freeman is more a replacement-level linebacker at best: impressive due to his background, not compared to the rest of the league. The team signed D'Qwell Jackson two years ago, but the former Pro Bowler has been a liability in coverage for four or five years.
Every time the Colts tried to play zone on Sunday, the middle of the field got eaten alive by Tom Brady and his band of gritty slot receivers. Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski combined for 16 catches, 205 yards and two touchdowns, eating up open space in the middle of the field like it was candy.
The Colts linebackers also were conspicuously missing in LeGarrette Blount's 38-yard touchdown run in the first half.
If there's one area that has been overlooked and underspent on over general manager Ryan Grigson's career, it's not offensive line or defensive line. It's linebacker.
Coaching Inconsistencies Continue to Plague Indianapolis
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I hate to bash Chuck Pagano for Sunday's game as a whole.
On one hand, the team came out focused and ready to play, taking a 21-20 lead into halftime in a completely unexpected first half. The Colts completely outplayed their expectations, staying close with New England throughout the game and coming within a score of the team that has beaten them by at least 20 points in the last four matchups.
Pagano was aggressive against a team he needed to be aggressive against, going for onside kicks and fourth-down conversions in a few key first-half moments, which is a big improvement for him over the last three years.
But then the Colts ran out the worst play in NFL history. Let's go through all of the ways in which the play failed:
- If you're going to go for it, just leave the offense out there!
- The players were not prepared to run it. The ball never should have been snapped, which is one issue. But the team was also not even aligned properly, and the entire right side of the line was off of the line of scrimmage.
- Having Colt Anderson take the snap from under center made no sense. That kind of trick play has worked for other teams before, but it almost always includes another player by the snapper/quarterback and includes a snap from the gun to give the "quarterback" room to make a play.
Sure, there was some miscommunication on the play on snapper Griff Whalen's part. But the Colts never should have been in that position. It's Pagano and his staff's job to get the players ready to play. They clearly weren't ready to run that play, on a number of levels.
That play wasn't the whole game, but it was a microcosm of the coaching inconsistencies that have plagued the Colts all season.
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