1. The Packers' first three possessions set the tone for Sunday's game.

With Green Bay starting quarterback Malik Willis – who was acquired in a trade just three weeks ago – in place of the injured Jordan Love, the Colts expected a run-heavy offensive attack on Sunday. They got it, but early in the game, were unable to slow it down.

The Packers leaned on running back Josh Jacobs to churn out yards on their first two possessions, which ended with a field goal and a Willis touchdown to wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks. With a 10-0 lead, Green Bay again marched downfield on their third drive, but linebacker Zaire Franklin forced Jacobs to fumble a yard from the goal line. Defensive end Laiatu Latu recovered the ball in the end zone, keeping Green Bay's lead from ballooning to 17-0 early in the second quarter.

From there, the Colts' defense began to find answers and slowed Green Bay's offense significantly. The stats from the Packers' first three drives and final seven drives were awfully different:

"Obviously, they are running the ball good early, but I think our defense settled in there in the second half," Steichen said. "I mean, we only gave up 16 points in total. So offensively it starts with myself too. We have to be better there and we have to score points."

Still, the damage was done – Willis settled into the afternoon, and Green Bay played with a lead the entire game, taking pressure off their greenhorn quarterback. While the Colts' defense gave the offense a chance, they also recognized that the damage was done on those first three possessions.

"As a defense, we just gotta go three and out, take it away. That's the mentality," cornerback Kenny Moore II said. "Whatever the offense has going on, that's the offense, but our job is to help them out as best as possible. It just wasn't good enough today."

2. The Colts have an urgent need to fix their run defense.

The Colts have now allowed the Packers and Houston Texans to combine for 474 rushing yards on 93 attempts (5.1 yards/carry) through two games; in 2023, the Colts didn't give up more than 186 rushing yards in a game and didn't allow their 474th rushing yard until late in Week 4.

Since 1980, the Colts are the 21st team to allow 400 or more rushing yards in their first two games; those 21 teams combined to go 5-37 in those season-opening games. The Colts know their run defense is a significant problem that has to be fixed as soon as possible; otherwise, this team will continue to have a hard time winning games.

"You give up something like that two weeks in a row, you come to a reality that it's a problem," linebacker E.J. Speed said. "Once you can accept that it's a problem, I think there's growth in that. I know dang well I accepted it being a linebacker and teams running the ball on us. I know I accepted it, and I know this week I'll be doing everything in my power to stop the run."

Players believe their issues stopping the run do not stem from scheme, but from a mentality they need to re-discover. The Colts from 2022-2023 allowed 4.2 yards per rushing attempt, tied for the ninth-lowest in the NFL.

"I believe when we talk about defeating the run, most of it is 'want to' and we have to find our niche in that," Speed said. "We need to prove this week (versus) Chicago that we are a force against the run, and I'm sure we can do that. I'm confident in this week. I think that the defense grew a little bit this last game in a sense of we come out, we played the Texans game – we gave up 150 to a running back, and then we came out and (did) it again. I believe at this point now, it's in our face that no, this is a problem that we need to fix."

3. More injuries could further test the Colts' defensive depth.

Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (ankle) and defensive end Laiatu Latu (hip) both left Sunday's game with injuries and did not return. Steichen said X-rays came back negative for Buckner, but he does have a sprained ankle.

The Colts were already short-handed in the secondary with cornerback JuJu Brents (knee) going on injured reserve last week and safety Julian Blackmon (shoulder) ruled out for Week 2; up front, defensive end Samson Ebukam (Achilles) was placed on injured reserve in August.

We'll see what the statuses of Buckner, Latu and Blackmon will be for Sunday's Week 3 game against the Chicago Bears once we get into Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's practice reports.

"We'll see how that goes (with Buckner)," Steichen said. "Then we'll see on Latu's hip this week as it goes."

4. What Anthony Richardson saw in his three interceptions.

Richardson threw multiple interceptions in a game for the first time in six career starts, the last of which came on a game-ending Hail Mary. It still counts against his ledger, but we'll put that one to the side and focus on the other two he threw Sunday.

The first interception came with 2:36 left in the first quarter and the Colts facing a first-and-10 on the Packers' 40-yard line. Also: It came after a Jonathan Taylor run and Ashton Dulin reception carved out 30 quick yards to open the Colts' second offensive possession with the team trailing 10-0.

Off play-action, wide receivers Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr. ran vertical routes from opposite sides of a condensed formation. Pierce bent his route over the middle while Pittman kept running downfield toward deep safety Xavier McKinney.

Linebacker Quay Walker quickly got pressure on Richardson, though, and he backed up while throwing. The pass sailed over Pierce and into the arms of McKinney for an interception.

"The first pick, that was just me," Richardson said. "I saw AP coming across the field and I released it a little too high and it sailed to the safety. That was me."

Richardson's second interception was with the Colts down, 16-3, with 10:23 left in the fourth quarter and the ball, again, on the Packers' 40-yard line. Richardson expected Packers linebacker Eric Wilson to bite on a six-yard in-breaking route ran by wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, leaving a hole in coverage for Pittman to work into. But as Richardson began his throwing motion, Wilson flipped his hips and sat in front of the pass to Pittman.

"The second one, also me," Richardson said. "I thought the backer was going to slide underneath the route to AD, so I thought I was going to get picked right there, but the backer made a good play."

While the Colts' offense had issues with penalties and dropped passes throughout Sunday's game, Richardson shouldered the blame for his team mustering only 10 points.

"All of that plays a factor in the loss, but turnovers are the big one," Richardson said. "You can't win any game with multiple turnovers. That's on me. I've got to go back and watch the film and just correct the little things that I made mistakes on. Despite the false starts or whatever was out there, turning the ball over, that's a no go right there."

5. Jonathan Taylor made plays, and Shane Steichen explained why he didn't have a snap in the fourth quarter.

Taylor ran with vision, patience and explosiveness over his 12 carries for 103 yards, and added receptions of 14 and 18 yards Sunday. The Colts, though, weren't able to get into an offensive rhythm behind Taylor because of an uneven day throwing the ball.

"When JT is rolling, we've got to connect in the pass game and vice versa," Richardson said.

Steichen said the Colts' plan was to go for it on fourth down if their third-and-one speed option didn't pick up a first down at the start of the third quarter; running back Trey Sermon lost three yards on the play, leading Steichen to opt for a 50-yard field goal attempt by Matt Gay that would've cut the score to 13-6. Gay missed the kick.

"I have confidence in Matt," Steichen said. "And he knows he's got to make those kicks and we've got to get that that cleaned up for sure."

From that point, though, Taylor did not re-enter the game, with Sermon and Tyler Goodson splitting snaps at running back. Steichen said the circumstances of the game – the Colts got the ball back down 16-3 with about 10 minutes remaining – led to the late-game personnel decision.

"I think in that fourth quarter, we were throwing the football and we don't – we weren't really scheming up passes for the running backs there in the fourth quarter when we were throwing it," Steichen said. "So, we had Trey in there, and I thought he did a good job. I think we only ran it twice. Obviously, that third-and-one – we were going to go for it on fourth down, but obviously we lost yards. So, we kicked the field goal there that we didn't convert, and that's how it played out."