1. Early in the season, wins – no matter how they look – are all you can ask for.
In the visiting locker room at Lambeau Field a week ago, cornerback Kenny Moore II laid out a baseline goal for the Colts – and any team – for the early part of the season.
"(For) the first quarter of the season you want to at least be even," Moore said. "I think that's the easy way of looking at the season, and then as you go throughout the season, you want to get better and better."
The point here is it's hard to build upon an 0-3 start to a season. The Colts nearly did in 2021, when they were 0-3 and later 1-4 before centering in on an identity and ripping off eight wins over their next 10 games; that season, of course, came to a bitterly disappointing end with consecutive losses to end the year.
For the most part, you just want a platform to build upon after the first four or five games of a season. The Colts, in beating the Chicago Bears on Sunday, now have an opportunity to exit the first quarter of 2024 with a 2-2 platform.
"We knew we're not an 0-2 team," center Ryan Kelly said. "I still think that we're not a 1-2 team, but 1-2 is a hell of a lot better than 0-3. It's early in the season. We're only three weeks in to a long season. So to sit 1-2 after we got a win at Lucas Oil at home, just build off that going forward."
The Colts won, 21-16, despite Anthony Richardson going 10/20 for 167 yards with two interceptions and a passer rating of 39.0. Over the last 10 seasons, teams are 15-134 when their starting quarterback has a passer rating under 40.
"I think it just goes back to repetitions," head coach Shane Steichen said about his 22-year-old quarterback. "We've just got to keep practicing it, keep repping it and we'll start hitting those things. I've got a ton of confidence in him, like I've been telling you guys, and we're going to keep working those things and get him going.
"... 100 percent it's in him. Obviously, we keep working through those things, but he's going to start making those throws. I have no doubt. He's been making them. We've just got to make them consistently."
Richardson after the game acknowledged the need for him to play better, but on Sunday, he didn't need to be the reason why the Colts won.
Coaches and teammates have plenty of trust in Richardson and believe in his ability to consistently play winning football. There are corrections to be made and problems to be addressed, of course. But the mood around the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center will be better as the Colts get back to work this week by virtue of Sunday's result.
"I think it was a game we all needed," Steichen said. "Starting 0-2 is always rough. But you've always got to get the first one and we got it done today. And again, we've got a lot of stuff to clean up. But to get the victory was huge for our guys."
2. Anthony Richardson saw something on Jonathan Taylor's 29-yard touchdown.
With the ball on the Bears' 29-yard line midway through a scoreless second quarter, Richardson lined up in the pistol with running back Jonathan Taylor behind him. Wide receiver Josh Downs went in motion from left to right, and slot cornerback Kyler Gordon faked following him before stopping at the near hashmark.
The Bears, at the snap, had seven defenders across the line of scrimmage, with Gordon and linebacker T.J. Edwards outside the defensive ends and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds walked up over Kelly at center.
Richardson noticed what Gordon was doing as he took the snap, and as he handed off to Taylor, he alerted his running back to the nickel corner's blitz.
"They brought some pressure right there and when I handed it to him, I told him the nickel was coming," Richardson said. "So he jump-cut inside real quick and made a decision, and just ran."
As all six Colts blockers flowed to the right, Taylor took the handoff and quickly cut to his left. As blockers like tight end Mo Alie-Cox, left guard Quenton Nelson and right guard Will Fries finished their blocks, Taylor accelerated horizontally across the field, then got vertical as wide receiver Alec Pierce locked up cornerback Jaylon Johnson. Taylor sprinted the last 20 yards to go untouched into the end zone.
For Taylor, Richardson pointing out something the defense did in the moment brought him back to some of the veteran quarterbacks he played with earlier in his career.
"A lot of that was happening when we had Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan," Taylor said. "A lot of those things were going on then. It's interesting for him being so young he's doing those things already."
Even if Richardson is missing some of his throws, the Colts have been pleased with his vision of the defense before and after the snap. And that vision, as we learned in Week 3, carries over to plays where all he has to do is hand the ball off.
"It's pretty impressive," Steichen said. "When guys are seeing things on the snap – just letting them know that someone's coming off the edge, and it kind of gives JT that accelerated vision on where the cut needs to be. Obviously, everyone has got to do their job upfront and on that play, everyone did. It was a hell of a play. It was a great job by Anthony calling it out and JT hitting it."
3. Taylor and the Colts' O-line are synced up.
The Colts offense is rolling behind the combination of Taylor's vision, patience and speed with an offensive line that's playing with technique and strength. Taylor has a fantastic feel for how to let things develop in front of him, and the offensive line is sustaining blocks to create creases for him to slip into.
And when Taylor does use his patience and vision to set up blocks – on which the Colts' O-line is winning – he can step on the gas and use his acceleration and speed to create both efficient and explosive plays.
"It's incredible what he can do with the ball," Kelly said. "Some of the reads he has, the patience he has to let blocks develop, can't give enough credit to him."
Taylor carried 23 times for 110 yards with two touchdowns, giving him consecutive 100-plus-yard games for the first time since his unanimous first-team AP All-Pro 2021 season. After the game, he pinged credit for his strong start to the season – his 261 rushing yards are seventh in the NFL – back on to his offensive line.
"It's a testament to the guys up front," Taylor said. "I've been with them for five years now. So just being able to continue to build on that continuity, I think it's showing I have the utmost confidence that any play we call is going to work because I know the work they put in day in and day out."
The way Taylor is running is what can happen when a running back and offensive line are completely synced up in how they're seeing and attacking opposing defenses.
"It starts up front. Those guys up front have been playing their tails off for the first three weeks, and those guys are setting the tone. And JT, the vision and the patience he has, it's the best I've been around without a doubt. He sees it well, he hits it, he runs it hard and he's got the home run ability as we saw Sunday. It's really good to have him."
It's not just Kelly, Nelson, Bernhard Raimann, Will Fries and Braden Smith winning up front, too. Alie-Cox helped spring Taylor's 29-yard touchdown; tight end Drew Ogletree sealed off a defender on Richardson's 13-yard run after Laiatu Latu's strip-sack of Caleb Williams. The Colts' tight ends are committed to blocking even if they're being infrequently targeted in the passing game, which Steichen highlighted Monday.
"It's a selfless group," Steichen said. "It starts with Mo Alie-Cox, he obviously is the anchor right there blocking-wise. But Granson has been doing a heck of a job and so is Drew. And those guys keep developing and keep growing. They're doing a head of a job with teh point of attack and even on the backside cutoffs, there were some big time blocks in the game on backside cutoffs for those guys that make the play go. It's been good to see.:
4. The Colts' run defense got the game it needed.
After allowing 474 rushing yards in Weeks 1 and 2, the Colts' defense felt like it needed to make a "statement," defensive tackle Raekwon Davis said, against the Bears.
Regardless of how the Bears' rushing offense had played leading into Week 3 (Chicago was 29th in rushing yards per play and 28th in rushing yards per game), the Colts needed to not just slow down their opponent's run game. They had to emphatically stop it.
The Bears ran the ball 28 times for 63 yards (2.3 yards/attempt), as the Colts' defense indeed made a statement. A few highlights inside those numbers:
- The Colts did not allow an explosive (10+ yard) rush
- The Bears picked up a first down on just four of 28 rushing plays
- With the Bears facing a first-and-goal on the Colts' four-yard line after the two-minute warning of the first half, the next four plays went:
- Direct snap to Khalil Herbert (two-yard gain)
- Handoff to Khalil Herbert (one-yard gain)
- Handoff to Khalil Herbert (no gain)
- Speed option pitch D'Andre Swift (loss of 12, turnover on downs)
In the span of one week, the Colts went from allowing 5.1 yards per carry (28th) to 4.4 yards per carry (14th). The Colts have had a top-10 rushing defense (by yards per carry) in five of the last seven seasons, including in 2022 (5th) and 2023 (10th).
"We all knew we had a job to do," defensive end Tyquan Lewis said. "The last thing we wanted to do is let someone down. Stopping the run is like your pride. ... Stopping the run is the biggest thing on defense. It's always No. 1."
5. Adetomiwa Adebawore took advantage of an opportunity.
The second-year defensive tackle's first sack of the regular season was a showcase of how improved his instincts and technique are – and the rare athleticism possessed by the 2023 fourth-round pick.
With 3:40 left in the game, Adebawore lined up over the outside shoulder of right guard (and former Colts offensive lineman) Matt Pryor. He knew Pryor liked to try to win early with a two-hand punch technique. So when Pryor did just that on this play, Adebawore was ready.
Adebawore quickly defeated Pryor by swiping the offensive lineman's hands down, the retained body control while athletically slipping around Pryor's outside shoulder. From there, Adebawore accelerated toward Williams, whose eyes were downfield. By the time Williams – who escaped pressure with remarkable quickness and agility all afternoon – saw Adebawore, it was too late. Adebawore dropped Williams for the sack as time ticked off the clock.
"I knew I wanted to swipe and get around him," Adebawore said. "I swiped, timed it up and got clean."
Adebawore spent the offseason honing his pass rushing moves, but having the instincts to know when and how to hit them in a game is a different challenge – one he's comfortable taking on in his second year as a defensive tackle (he primarily played defensive end in college at Northwestern).
"It's more instinctual," Adebawore said. "I think anyone can out and swipe in a drill. But I feel like it's a feeling and timing of you know — your eyes see it, you get your hands ready, swipe and go."
The Colts will need more plays like this one from Adebawore, especially over the next few weeks while DeForest Buckner is on injured reserve.
"Buck is obviously a big part of the team," Adebawore said. "It's a next man up mentality and it shouldn't be a drop-off. There's still the same expectations."
