Biggest Takeaways from Indianapolis Colts' Week 2 Loss
What could be explained away as an aberration in Week 1 turned into a recurring nightmare for the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2.
For the second consecutive week, everything went wrong for the Colts, as they lost to the New York Jets 20-7 on Monday Night Football.
The Colts came out of the gates in a rut, and it never really got any better, much like the loss to Buffalo in Week 1. There is a silver lining here, as these were two of the worst matchups for Indianapolis on their schedule from a personnel standpoint, but the Colts still greatly underperformed.
Problems are present across the board for the Colts, but let's take a look at what the biggest issues were as the team looks forward.
Andrew Luck Is in a Funk
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When Andrew Luck plays badly, the Colts play badly. When Luck plays well, the Colts play well.
The Colts' path to success is not a complicated one. Unfortunately, the team's been unable to follow it through the first two weeks as Luck has played much worse than his usual standard.
Luck was honest about it after the game when asked about what was wrong with the offense, per Colts.com's Kevin Bowen:
"My play, turning the ball over, fumbles, interceptions. It was a pretty glaring issue. You don't want to take anything away from what the Jets did on defense, but we continually shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties and turnovers. If we don't clean things up, we won't win football games. The first one was a bad throw, behind the guy. I missed that.
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It's hard to imagine Luck not bouncing back from this rough start, given how much talent he has, but you can't say that this start isn't concerning. The Colts desperately need Luck to be the player he's been hyped up to be, and so far he's fallen short.
There are plenty of problems around him, but if Luck turns it around, so will the Colts.
Discipline, Preparation Woes a Coaching Problem?
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For the second consecutive week, the Colts had discipline and preparation problems, which led to their untimely demise.
The Colts committed 11 penalties, several of which stalled promising offensive drives and continually put the offense in a bad situation. They had five turnovers, including two fumbles, killing drives and putting the defense in tough spots. They missed field goals. They dropped passes. They had poor communication.
Quite frankly, they were just sloppy.
The Colts have had issues starting games slowly for the last year. Prior to Monday night, the Colts had 30 first-half turnovers since the start of 2014, the most in the league. They proceeded to add two more in the first half against the Jets on their way to a 10-0 deficit.
When a team has discipline and preparation issues, it's the players committing the errors, but the coaching that holds the responsibility. The coaches, especially head coaches, have a responsibility to have a football team prepared and ready to play as soon as the ball is kicked off.
The Colts have had a real problem with that, looking completely disheveled early in games on a consistent basis. The Colts coaching staff has its strengths, but the team's inability to start a game cleanly is a big weakness at this point.
Bright Spots: Donte Moncrief, Henry Anderson
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If there was a bright spot in this one, it was a couple of young players: Donte Moncrief and Henry Anderson.
Moncrief was the only receiver able to consistently separate from defenders, finishing with seven catches for 122 yards and a touchdown. As T.Y. Hilton was limited with a knee injury, Moncrief was the receiver that Luck fed when the Colts got on a roll.
In the most impressive play of the day, Luck hit Moncrief with a back-shoulder throw for a 24-yard gain on third down. That kind of WR-QB chemistry has been completely lacking through these first couple of games, so seeing that from a 22-year-old and Andrew Luck is extremely encouraging.
Henry Anderson is two years older than Moncrief, but that doesn't stop him from having just as much potential. Anderson has been a big name ever since the draft, when the Colts were able to steal him in the third round.
Through the first two weeks of the season, Anderson has been a stud for the Colts on the defensive line, continuously blowing up run plays in the backfield. He finished with five tackles, two for a loss, and a sack Monday. Anderson can't be called the next J.J. Watt just yet, considering his lack of pressure in the passing game, but he's looking like an absolute stud as a run defender.
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Injuries Are Piling Up
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The Colts were able to avoid big preseason injuries this year, but they have been bitten by the bug over these first few weeks. Of course, that's unsurprising considering their history.
Already down three of their top four cornerbacks going into the game, the Colts lost Vontae Davis to a concussion midway through the second quarter, leaving them with Jalil Brown and Sheldon Price as their top two cornerbacks.
The Jets were able to take advantage of this in certain situations, the killer play being Brandon Marshall's game-sealing touchdown pass in the fourth quarter after the Colts drove down for a score with about 10 minutes left.
The Colts also lost Dwayne Allen to an ankle injury in the contest, while D'Qwell Jackson went out with a neck injury late in the game.
Davis' concussion could be a quick turnaround if he gets through the protocol quickly this week, but having a short week won't help. Allen told Colts.com after the game that his ankle should be ready to go against Tennessee next week. According to Chuck Pagano, per Colts.com, Jackson suffered a "stinger" and should be fine.
So the Colts managed to avoid severe, season-changing injuries, but they've already lost significant production with injuries to players like Arthur Jones and Greg Toler. T.Y. Hilton's limited status on Monday clearly hampered his production. If the Colts continue to lose bodies, their lack of depth will be exposed.
The Offense Has a Complete Lack of Identity
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The biggest problem with the Indianapolis Colts as they stand right now is the offense. The Colts added numerous key pieces in the offseason to try to capitalize on their offensive potential, including Frank Gore, Andre Johnson and Phillip Dorsett.
But the Colts' early attempts to field a dominant offense have fallen unfortunately flat.
Sure, the Colts have gone up against two talented defenses in Buffalo and New York, but the offense has been completely outmatched, scoring just 21 points in two games.
On Monday, the Colts looked completely disjointed, with miscommunication and inconsistent play-calling derailing drives.
The Colts' offensive identity is a mess at this point. The team and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton have so much confidence in their ability to run from different offensive sets that they go from heavy power-run sets to empty-backfield, shotgun sets in the blink of an eye. Hamilton loves to try to confuse defenses and set up favorable matchups, much like he did at Stanford.
But the problem is that the Colts can't get a group of personnel on the same page from play-to-play. The Colts can't figure out what they want to be on offense, and the flip-flop play-calling isn't fitting their personnel.
The team has the talent to be an uptempo, spread offense with Luck running the show from the line of scrimmage. It would be great to see the Colts run one game with an uptempo, no-huddle game plan, particularly with 11 personnel (three wide receivers, one tight end, one running back).
We already know Luck has the talent to do so, thriving on it in 2012. Let's see what he can do with an even better cast of weapons.
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